How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back
by Finite Sledgehammer
Summary: Princess Moonstruck was the foremost dragonslayer in the tiny Queendom of Trot. Was. With dragons steering clear of the tiny island nation, and not much else to do, she's fallen into a bit of a funk. When a mysterious pony is found half way around the world, she's summoned by Princess Celestia to undertake a perilous mission, and maybe discover a little about herself.
1. Prologue

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: My Little Pony is Hasbro's toybox; I'm just playing in it. With… HEADCANONS._

* * *

 **Prologue**

The pegasus pony was very nearly out of control. The stiff tail wind that propelled her well beyond her top speed was almost more than her long, broad wings could manage; but she couldn't slow down, much less stop. The same wind that was sending her hurtling through the clear frosty air, and over unfamiliar mountains was also enabling the dark airship behind her to close the gap she was working so hard to broaden. In just a scant few seconds she would be in range of their net-throwing cannons.

She gritted her teeth, and fought back the tears that threatened to blind her tired eyes. It felt like she'd been flying for days, although she knew she would have collapsed and fallen out of the sky well before now, if that was the case. Even a mountain pegasus like herself couldn't maintain her top speed for so long, no matter what was chasing her.

The only reason she was still alive, and still flying was the world had gone completely mad. The highest reaches of the mountains were always astoundingly confusing, but she'd somehow wound up in a side canyon she'd never been in before – a dead ended side canyon at that. She'd attempted to pull up before she hit the far wall, but she'd had too much momentum and had slammed straight into the jagged rocks, which – if nothing else – was a better end than what the ponies aboard the airship had for her. She _should_ have crashed. Somehow, inexplicably she passed _through_ the wall to find herself tumbling haphazardly high over the mountains, so high the air was almost too thin to breathe.

And the airship had followed. Was still following, though they were impossibly over the crest of the mountains now, driving towards the far southern horizon – something she'd never even seen before, something she had only known existed simply because it _had_ to exist _somewhere_.

Something exploded to her right, then left, then straight behind. She ignored it as best she could to focus on speed, and that distant, strange horizon. _Just a little further!_ If she could make it just a tiny bit further she could dive, and take cover among the rocky peaks below. At least, this is what she told herself; in reality she was exhausted, her wings and lungs were burning from fatigue and lack of oxygen from the extreme altitude, and she had no idea what was waiting for her in the landscape below. But it had to be better than this – _anything_ was better than this!

The wind shifted suddenly, buffeting the pegasus and the pursuing zeppelin with a powerful blast out of the west. The pony took the opportunity to tuck her wings and dive, allowing the wind to nudge her eastward. She couldn't afford to look back, but she hoped and prayed the airship couldn't follow her at such a steep angle – especially with the shifting winds. Even if they did manage to follow from above, the speed of her dive should carry her well out of range of their cannons.

Gritting her teeth, she opened her wings slightly as the mountain grew dangerously close, adjusting the angle of her dive so that she skimmed the rocky surface to sweep dizzily down the steep, snowy slope.

The mountain rippled, then gave way beneath her, opening up abruptly into a shallow, misty gorge, in to which the wind was blowing strongly. The pony yelped and opened her wings further, flapping them frantically to gain control of her flight, but a sudden, sharp downdraft sent her tumbling into the mist. Disoriented and all but blind, she managed to right herself just in time for one wing to brush against an outcropping of rock. The brief contact was all it took to send her spinning into another rock; then a tree, then finally the ground. She rolled to a stop at the bottom of a hill of slush and scree.

Silence descended upon her; for a few tense moments she held her breath and waited for the whir of the airships engines to sound overhead. While the mountainside was so quiet that every minuscule pebble that came bouncing along behind her rang loudly in her aching hears, nothing lumbered in above. The pony let out the breath she'd been holding, then coughed, and sobbed violently. Once the coughing subsided she tried to stand, but only managed to roll painfully on to her side. Everything hurt, making it impossible to tell where, and how badly she was injured.

She could go no further, she knew. She escaped the airship, but she would die here, far from her family on the impossible side of the mountains.

Alone.

Darkness tugged at the edge of her vision as tears she had been holding in began to stream down her face. She had nothing left but to surrender to the darkness.

As she slid into unconsciousness, something lifted its head above the ground-clinging fog and sniffed curiously in her direction.

* * *

A/N: AND SO IT BEGINS. Started writing this a few years ago based on some headcanons that needed to get out in the world in story form. It started out as just a few plot bunnies coming together for a little playtime, then kind of spiraled out of control. _Way_ out of control. Like, over 400 pages of plot bunny orgy out of control.

Yeah. One of _those_.

I hadn't really written much of anything in a long time, so I've just been rolling with it. And now that it's finally, _finally_ done, I am posting it. Because when you spend several years on a fanfic, and the show hasn't really smashed any (well, except one, but the show's kinda weird on that one… and I get the inkling the movie might mess a few things up) of your headcanons, you post it.

Oh yeah, according to Ponder Stibbons of Unseen University on Discworld (Terry Pratchett), thaums are a sort of unit of magical measurement. I have borrowed them for the time being. Also octarine (the color of magic). Both will pop up later.

Anyhoo, this starts out just after season 3, and kind of runs partway into season 4. It's mostly OC-centric, but canon ponies pop up from time to time. I'm gonna try to get a new chapter up at least once a week. Maybe twice for exciting stuff, unless I'm feeling sadistic.

SUPER EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO MIDORI FOR READING THIS MESS AS I WAS WRITING IT. Seriously. I am eternally grateful! [bows forever]


	2. Chapter 1

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"This is strange news indeed." Princess Celestia flicked an ear towards her sister, then reluctantly turned from the antics in the courtyard below to regard Princess Luna. "Distressing news, as well."

Luna pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded slightly, her eyes flicking across the scroll she was reading, which she was holding up with telekenisis. Celestia had read the scroll a number of times herself, wearing a similarly concerned expression.

"I have forgotten how eventful it was a thousand years ago." Luna murmured. She sighed, closed her eyes for a moment, then jerked her head up as she used her magic to roll the scroll up and set it on the table next to her.

"I will go. I am more familiar with Roanamia than you."

Celestia shook her head. "Too familiar, I'm afraid. I doubt your magic will work there, and if it does, it may lead to the darker pathways."

Luna frowned, and furrowed her brow. "You cannot go, your magic may well trigger another cataclysm. Or worse."

Celestia nodded grimly. "Princess Cadance is strong enough, and young enough to not be recognized, but her magic isn't well suited for this. She also works best with Shining Armor. Unless things have changed, no earth, pegasus or unicorn ponies can breach the Broken Mountains."

Her gaze drifted out the window again, to where Twilight Sparkle and her friends were holding an especially fancy tea party in a lower courtyard. It was Rarities birthday, she recalled vaguely. The unicorn had been absolutely tickled pink to be treated to a tea party at the palace. Celestia would be down there now, if not for the sheriffs department from a small town north east of Griffonstone's strange and unsettling discovery. The territory the little town occupied had once been part of Roanamia, but despite its distance, had been under the jurisdiction of Equestria for a millennium.

"Sister, you're not thinking of sending -" Luna started, following her gaze.

"Goodness no!" Celestia gasped, snapping her eyes back up to Luna. "She is nowhere near ready for such a task! And if worst comes to worst she – all of them – will be most needed here. Besides, Twilight has the same problem as Cadance: she works best with her friends, and they cannot go."

Celestia didn't want to say it out loud, but she had an inkling that while Twilight Sparkle was powerful enough for this quest, she was… well… too innocent for it. She and her friends had faced many foes, but none of them were as cunning, vile, nor ruthless as whom had been festering in lost Roanamia all of these years. A bright, pure hearted young alicorn with a strong sense of justice and fairness would not last long. It certainly hadn't made a difference before. Quite possibly it made things exponentially worse. Cadance was in the same boat, now that she thought about it. Both their powers were based on love and friendship. They would need someone clever, cunning and perhaps even jaded to pull this off. Someone who could make exceptionally difficult decisions and live with the consequences. Someone who also happened to be an alicorn too young for the various spells and curses enshrining the Broken Mountains to recognize, and who wasn't needed elsewhere.

Judging by Lunas expression, she was likely thinking the same thing Celestia was. They stared sourly at one another for a few long moments. The problem with alicorns was that there were very few of them. Perhaps two dozen in all. Most were heads of state, and likely otherwise engaged with their magical duties, in addition to ruling and protecting their respective domains – which were scattered across the world. Although she and Luna could not go near the Broken Mountains for fear of causing another magical catastrophe, those of the old guard generally steered clear of it as a precaution. Too, many of them had retreated to lives of meditation and seclusion, largely withdrawn from the world. Most had traditionally been reluctant to get involved with things outside their domains, anyhow.

"There's Prince Windstone." Luna said abruptly. "His mother still wears the crown, so his domain can be without him for a while."

Celestia wrinkled her snout. "He's a bit callous and headstrong. This is an extremely delicate operation that will require the utmost stealth, and if necessary, astounding diplomacy."

"Mmm." Luna grunted. "He is something of a brat, still."

"Princess Mayweather?"

"Studying with the griffons." Celestia shook her head. "And she will be inheriting the crown almost as soon as she gets back, I feel."

Luna frowned. "Princess Sunwish?"

"Just gave birth."

"Princess Gleneden?"

"Queen Gleneden. Just took over for her ailing father, and her mother withdrew from public life a few years ago."

There was a long pause. Laughter echoed up the walls of the castle as a warm breeze shifted the gossamer curtains.

"Princess Starshine?"

Celestia opened her mouth, then shut it again, tilting her head to the side.

"Trot has two princesses, and Queen Astromida still holds the throne."

"I will compose a letter at once." Luna nodded stiffly, then turned to leave. She paused half way to the door. "You said they have two princesses? Both alicorns? I can't recall a second foal."

"Yes, Princess Starshine, and Princess Moonstruck. I believe they have a son, as well, but he didn't inherit the wings." Celestia mused.

"Colts rarely do." Luna remarked. Indeed, there was only one male alicorn at the moment, and there hadn't been one for some time before he was born.

Celestia nodded, then continued. "Starshine is the oldest. She's of noble bearing and very level headed. She's in line to rule, so I've spoken with her a few times during official negotiations."

Celestia furrowed her brow and gazed out the window again, down at the ponies playing in the courtyard.

"Now that I'm thinking of her, I don't believe I've heard much of Moonstruck since she was a foal. I have met her, but she was very young. She's a dragonslayer, I believe."

"A dragonslayer?" Lunas eyebrows traveled up towards her mane. "In _her_ family line?"

"Yes. Strange, I know. It was rather clever, actually. What she did." Celesta shook herself then focused on her sister. "Well, get the letter drafted. I'll start preparing the mission outline."

* * *

Every day at about the same time, Princess Celestia brought he sun into the sky. On this particular day, some hours later in the tiny country of Trot, Princess Moonstruck accidentally woke herself up by falling out of bed. She blinked her large, reddish eyes a few times, keenly aware that she was balanced precariously on the side of her face; the rest of her body proppped against the plush mattress but otherwise in the air. It was a rather undignified position for a pony – much less a princess – not to mention uncomfortable. She didn't care much about dignity, but she did care to be comfortable, so she carefully sorted herself out.

Once she was seated properly on the floor, she shook her head to clear it, then squinted at the clock on the far wall. She hadn't slept as long as she wanted, but her unfortunate tumble out of bed had ensured that she wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon.

Letting out a weary sigh, she got to her hooves and ambled groggily out of her room. Hot breakfast was long past, but she knew there was always cold cereal and/or fruit down in the kitchens. She rounded a corner to be bathed in warm sunlight. All of their living chambers were arranged around a private garden her mother tended, and it was in full glory this fine spring day. Later, when she was more awake, she would appreciate it, but now it was just an irritatingly bright light and too many loudly singing birds.

"You're up earlier than usual."

"Fell outta bed." Moonstruck grumbled. She paused as she realized that was not her mothers voice coming from the garden, although it would have been more shocking if it was. She turned her head and squinted into the glare. There was indeed someone sitting in the center of the garden under an ornamental maple tree – usually her mothers favorite spot. It was not a tall, elegant silver and gold alicorn mare wearing a pair of bifocals and squinting at a book or scroll. It was a skinny, gawky golden unicorn colt with a two toned green mane and tail. He had his back to her, was looking at the spot in the grass that their mother used to occupy on mornings like this.

"She's not coming back, is she?" He asked without turning around, his voice cracking slightly.

Moonstruck frowned, then stepped off of the marble flooring and onto the plush grass path that wound its way through the flowerbeds.

"I dunno, she might eventually."

"Eventually?" He snorted, turning to scowl at her as she sat down next to him. "It's been over three months!"

She shrugged. "That's not a very long time in the grand scheme of things, Acorn. Especially when you remember how old Mom is."

Acorns scowl darkened as he nodded grimly. Then he grimaced and ducked his head. "You don't think that she… well she is old – I mean, you wouldn't know how old she actually is and… did – do you think she leave to… to die?"

Moonstruck shook her head. "No. If Mom was dying, she would have said something. This is…" she scowled, "this is retirement, I guess. Maybe a long vacation."

"I still don't understand!" Acorn stood up and began pacing back and forth. "If she needed a vacation, why didn't she just say it? If she wanted to retire, why didn't not just retire!? Why'd she have to just disappear out of the blue!?"

"I dunno." Moonstruck sighed. "You know how she always kept things to herself, and we all know she hasn't been the same since Dad died. Even she couldn't hide that from us."

"It's like we don't even matter to her." Acorn groaned.

Moonstruck couldn't bring herself to agree with him out loud, her mind drifting back to the last time she's spoken with their mother. She pushed the memory aside and decided that changing the topic was probably a good idea.

"You're doing a great job on the garden, by the way."

"I promised myself that I'd keep it the way she always did. So that it'll be like nothing changed when she comes back. If she comes back." Acorn said softly. His cutie mark was a mighty oak tree growing out of a small acorn. He was already well on his way to being a master gardener.

Moonstruck nodded, then stood up, no longer able to stomach sitting in her mothers garden.

"I'm gonna go rustle up some breakfast."

"I left some pancakes for you in the fridge." Acorn grunted.

"Thanks." Moonstruck nodded once, then trotted away, leaving him to fuss over the flowers. At least by tending the garden he had something to do. Unfortunately, one of the other things he did to keep himself busy was remind her that their mother, Queen Astromida, had gone missing just after the last snow storm, and had named their oldest sibling as her successor via a letter left on her desk.

No one was really surprised that Starshine inherited the throne – she'd been more or less preparing for it for many years, and she really was the best suited for it. It was that the queen had said she was going for a fly with the implication that she would be back before dinner, and hadn't been seen since. The only way they knew that nothing terrible had happened was that the aforementioned letter naming Starshine as the new queen was written in an ink unique to Astromida that could not be used under enchantment or duress. She had to have been quite calm when she'd written the letter. Although Moonstruck didn't dare mention it to her siblings, she suspected that their mother had written it quite a while ago, and was just waiting for the right time to go.

Why now – or rather, the middle of winter – was the right time Moonstruck couldn't even guess. She was also more than a little annoyed that mother hadn't left any sort of instruction for she and Acorn. Granted, Acorn didn't really need much guidance; he'd had his hooves in the dirt since he was old enough to help in the garden. She, on the other hoof, could have used a few clues. Her abilities were fairly specific, which unfortunately meant she didn't have much use around the queendom until or unless a particular problem arose. That problem hadn't arisen in some time; news traveled quickly among dragons, it seemed. They hadn't been sighted over Trot for several years.

She shuffled into the kitchen, nodded sheepishly to the staff bustling around within, and opened the refrigerator door with magic. Sure enough, a short stack was sitting off to the side with her name on it. She stared at it for a few moments, was just about to magic it out of the fridge, then decided she didn't want to spend much time in the castle today. She shut the door, snagged a couple of bananas out of a bowl in the center of the main counter, and trotted out the back door.

"I'll be over at Heather Patch's, if you need me."

* * *

Time moved in unexpected directions in the Broken Mountains. Sometimes it ran in circles for a while, quite enamored with its own tail. While two weeks had passed in the outside world where the events of the next few days had already been reacted to, for one pony lying unconscious on a lonely mountainside, things had only just begun.

The creature that had been near by when the pegasus pony had made her rough landing stepped out of the mist and sniffed curiously in her direction. Most would agree it was a dragon of some sort, though it didn't much resemble the usual wyrms seen flying around from time to time. It walked on two muscular legs; had clawed hands instead of front paws; balanced lightly on an outflung tail, and had a pair of large, feathered wings. It was not much taller than the injured pony lying at its feet.

"That was rough." The dragon murmured. He didn't usually get involved with pony affairs, but an escape like the one he'd just witnessed was quite the feat. It felt wrong to leave the poor pegasus to die after she'd tried so hard to survive. Besides, he'd never seen a pony come over the north side of the mountains. Usually getting lost up there was a death sentence for them.

There was a pony village about a days flight from here. The hunting up here had not been good lately, and he intended to head down to lower altitudes. The pegasus was small, and underfed. Likely light enough to fly with. Since he was heading down anyway, he may as well make a side trip. The dragon gingerly lifted the pegasus onto his shoulders, then started off down the slope.

* * *

They never searched for survivors. Either ponies met up with the clan later, or they didn't. The clan would not risk time, resources and possible capture to confirm if those who didn't come home were taken or killed.

It was a harsh but effective rule. It kept the clan hidden. It kept the clan safe. She respected the rule. But this time, she could not follow it. Not after loosing her only surviving daughter to illness over the winter. Not when she herself was no longer of real use to the clan, and canny enough to slip unnoticed up the maze of canyons below the impossible peaks to where the ships had surprised her granddaughters hunting party.

They had been six strong. Four were captured, one limped in two days ago, but her granddaughter was missing. The sole survivor had seen her granddaughter narrowly escape a catcher, and dive recklessly into the canyon below the mountain with the broken top. He had no idea if she was captured or killed.

But the old pegasus gliding silently along the canyon rim could not turn away. Could not accept that her granddaughter was gone. Not without some kind of closure. So she slipped out after dark to search.

For three nights now she'd surveyed the canyon, following its twists and turns, plumbing its depths, daring to venture higher up the dried riverbed to seek the more unstable areas where magic ran wild, and everything was confusing. There was a chance – a slim chance, that her granddaughter had escaped up there; into the impossible parts of the mountain range where the catchers would be hard pressed to follow. There was an even slimmer chance that she would make it to the other side of the mountains and escape this horrible place forever.

The old mare was not sure which she preferred.

After many hours of searching, she glided in to a landing on a knob of moonlit sandstone. Although her face was heavily lined, her mane and tail were gray, and her coat was dull, her age did not extend to her movements. Every adjustment of her wings was crisp, and fluid, and her landing was light as a feather.

She stared up the canyon, towards the mountain that stood dark against the faint stars. Nothing moved, even the wind had died down, leaving the chilly spring night silent, and still.

It pained her to admit it, but she was the only living thing for miles.


	3. Chapter 2

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Time seemed to slide by very slowly, as of late. Although winter wrap up was over and done only a few weeks prior, it seemed ages since the weather ponies had moved in some warmer air, and started directing some of the naturally occurring storms away from the island chain. The days were pleasant, the nights were mild, the rain was being tapered off, and one day oozed placidly into another, making it increasingly hard to tell how much time had actually passed.

About the only way Moonstruck kept track of things was by Saturdays. Her best friends both had Saturdays off, so that was their goof-off day. The rest of the week was something of a blur, but Saturday? Saturday had card games, and hunts for new bakeries they hadn't tried, and sometimes trips up the coastline to their favorite beaches, if the weather was agreeable. This particular Saturday was quite pleasant, but they were content to spend it in Trot City huddled around a worn but well cared for table in their favorite saloon.

"Aces and eights," Moonstruck grinned, dropping her cards on the table. "Read 'em and weep!"

"Oh sonnova..." her opponent, a grizzled stallion flung his cards on the table. He had a pair of tens. "You cheated!"

"I never cheat, it would tarnish my good name." Moonstruck sniffed haughtily, then grinned mischievously, using her magic to lift the pile of chips at the center of the table and arrange them into neat stacks next to her.

"There's no way you could have won that! I'm the best dang card player this side of Equestria! Even _I_ don't just win six hands in a row like that!" He huffed, standing up and stamping a hoof.

Moonstruck gave him an exasperated look. "What would I gain from cheating? This is all for charity. No matter who wins, the money goes into the donation fund. It's…."

"The library." The earth pony to her right – Heather Patch – supplied helpfully.

"Right, the library this week. Last week it was the animal shelter."

"Next week it's the farm school." Patch added.

"Besides, I have money in the pot too, you know. It's two bits for three hands, and I always match funds."

The stallion ground his teeth together. "So this is all a publicity stunt! A scam to get people to spend their hard earned money on a bunch of moldy old books!?"

Moonstruck lifted a brow. "It's printed on the sign. You even dropped your money in a big pickle jar that says 'donations'."

"You flea bitten royals!" He spat, half turning. "If you're not taxing us, you're scamming us out of our hard earned money to fund some sissy causes." He stormed off, kicking his stool out of his way as he went.

"It also makes me feel really awesome when I win all the time!" Moonstruck called after him. A few of the other saloon patrons chuckled.

"Talk about a sore looser." The pegasus sitting to her left – Spring Breeze – stuck her tongue out. "He wasn't even that good, even Patch coulda played circles around him.

"Hey!" Patch huffed.

Moonstruck righted the wayward stool and slid it back to where it should be before settling back down at her spot and collecting the cards. Once she had the began shuffling them.

"How long are you gonna keep this up, anyway?" Breezy asked, taking a sip of her ginger ale.

"This charity thing? Eventually you'll run out of ponies who'll want to challenged Maverick Moonstruck. I think you've already played half the ponies in Trot."

"Yeah, and most of the charities don't actually need much help anyway. They're pretty well funded." Patch added. "By taxes, incidentally."

"I dunno." Moonstruck shrugged. "I might try entering some high stakes games in Equestria or something. I dunno if I want to hit the celebrity circuit though. I mean, I only really get away with it here 'cause Trot is so small. Everyone practically knows everyone anyway."

"Yeah, that's true." Breezy wrinkled her snout. "Probably not proper for a princess to get wrapped up in celebrity poker out in Equestria."

"It'll probably be okay, since she'd be playing for charity." Patch mused. She took a sip of her cider. "It's your royal pet cause."

"And my best idea of all time." Breezy beamed.

"Your _one_ good idea." Moonstruck smirked and finished shuffling the cards.

"I've had a few good ideas! This was just the best of 'em so far!" Breezy barked, as Patch giggled.

"Another round while we wait for more victims?" Moonstruck asked, absently using her telekinesis to float the cards in ornate patterns over her head. Her friends laughed and nodded, so she gathered them up again, gave them one last quick shuffle, then dealt.

The game progressed smoothly; it was a friendly match, so Moonstruck didn't try particularly hard to beat them. Patch and Breezy were a cut above most ponies when it came to poker, but she was usually a cut or two above them.

Midway through the second hand, one of the castle guards marched into the saloon, his polished armor reflecting the dim lighting with a dull silver and copper sheen. Although castle guards were not an uncommon sight in Trot City, the saloon-goers fell silent. The pegasus stallion stopped by their table and swept into a low, wide winged bow.

"Princess Moonstruck, your sister, Queen Starshine requests your presence at once."

"I dunno what it is, but I didn't do it this time." Moonstruck grunted, not looking up from her cards. "And why so serious? Take a seat, Windwake, I'll deal ya in."

Breezy and Patched giggled, while a few nearby ponies smirked.

Windwake scowled, giving the three of them a reproachful look. " _Some of us_ have to work today."

"Hey, everybody knows I don't work Saturdays." Breezy quipped before taking a pull off her ginger ale. She ruffled her wings.

"I only work weekends during the busy season." Patch added, smiling sheepishly.

"And we all know I haven't had anything to do in a long time." Moonstruck smirked, eyeing him over her cards.

Windwake sighed irately, straightened up out of his bow, and gave her a flat look.

"Fine, fine, sheesh." Moonstruck sighed. She let her cards drop to the table and stood up, stretching lazily. Patch took a quick peek at her hand. "Where is she?"

"Her office."

"Drat, I can't teleport there." Moonstruck grumbled. She ambled around the table. "She keeps moving all of my nodestones, so I can't get an accurate enough location to just pop in."

"Yes. I know. She makes us sweep the room for them every morning." Windwake grumbled.

Moonstruck giggled. She let the tall, lean pegasus lead her out of the saloon.

"Be back in a jiffy!" She called over her shoulder.

She was surprised when Windwake broke off into a swift trot as soon as he was outside. She scrambled to keep pace, huffing and puffing all the way. She needed to get out more. They trotted in silence (aside from Moonstrucks heavy panting) to a more open area where they could take off without hitting the trees that arched over the roadway. Moonstruck wondered what was so important to pull her out of a game on a Saturday. She didn't bother asking Windwake, he probably didn't know. Starshine could be pretty tight lipped about things – even more-so since she'd taken over the queendom.

They reached the intersection at the end of the street, and Windwake took off, bounding into the air in one smooth leap. Moonstruck scowled and lumbered into the air after him. She'd never been very good at taking off. She was a strong enough flier once she was actually in the air, and she had no trouble landing; gravity just seemed reluctant to let her go without a fight.

She made a mental note to take up jogging or something to build up leg strength as Windwake set a swift pace. Surprisingly he led her to the balcony nearest her sisters offices – something that was rarely done. Normally she'd be escorted to the main entrance, then forced to climb several flights of stairs.

Trot Castle was a modestly sized castle, so it took little time to make it up to the royal offices where her sister had set up camp in the months that their mother had dropped off the planet. Windwake pushed the door open, announced her, then left promptly as soon as Moonstruck was inside the spacious office. She sauntered over to the loaded desk and squinted through the gap in the tower of books and papers to spy her sister laboring away on the other side.

"'Sup?"

Starshine didn't immediately reply, was scowling down at something she was writing.

After a sufficiently long pause, Moonstruck levitated some of the books and papers on the desk so that she could see her sister more clearly. "Hellooooo?"

"Moonstruck, don't mess those up!" Starshine gasped, throwing her a stern look, "I heard you the first time."

"Yeah, well, you also didn't say anything for a long time." Moonstruck gently set the paperwork back on the desk and sat down. "Out with it, I was in the middle of a game."

"You're always in the middle of a game. You spend too much time at the _Green Dragon_." Starshine muttered as she came out from behind the desk. She stared sternly at Moonstruck for a few long moments, then heaved a sigh.

"I'm afraid there's no way around it."

"Pardon?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow.

"I have been summoned to Canterlot to meet with High Princess Celestia."

Moonstruck sat up a little straighter and blinked a few times. "Really? Cool! Does this mean I'm in charge while you're gone?"

"No." Starshine shook her head, still eyeing her sternly. "I cannot go. Mother didn't leave everything in working order as we previously assumed. Actually things are quite disarrayed… I fear she hadn't been focusing on work for some time."

She frowned, her gaze shifting to the side for a moment before she snapped her eyes back to Moonstruck.

"And _somepony_ didn't inform Canterlot of her departure."

Moonstruck grinned sheepishly, her mind racing back to a sheaf of paper, ink and quills that were gathering dust on her desk in her room. She knew she'd been forgetting something these past few months.

Starshine closed her eyes. "There's simply too much for me to do here. I am going to send you in my stead."

"WICKED!" Moonstruck bounced to her hooves and fanned her wings. "Breezy and Patch are gonna flip their lids! Weekend in Canterlot is GO!"

She hunkered down and focused on the crystal she left embedded in the outside wall of the _Green Dragon Saloon_ , was about to cast her teleport spell, when Starshine snapped her wings open dramatically and stamped a hoof.

"They cannot come! You must go alone!"

"Huh? Really? But - "

"No. This is official business. You will not have time to play with your friends. You have a job to do!"

Moonstruck straightened up out of her crouch. "What?"

"You are being sent on a mission. I was not given any details, but it is exceedingly important." Starshine let out a sigh akin to a growl and began to pace, the sun reflecting off her snow white coat, and silver mane and tail. She was tall and lean, like most alicorns, and unlike Moonstruck, whom had always been on the short and chubby side. She also seemed to have gotten most of the good mane and tail genes, since both had a nice, natural wave to them. Moonstruck, by contrast, seemed to have scooped up all of the messy curls the gene pool had to offer.

"Before your mission, you may well be representing the Queendom of Trot in the royal Equestrian court. This is not a game."

"What's going on?" Moonstruck asked, feeling like a little filly again at the prospect of having to hob-knob with Canterlot royalty – most of whom she had only met once when she was a foal. She'd never been very good at the nitty gritty bits of being a princess; like the diplomacy, and responsibility, and the paperwork, and the part where she had to stand around and look majestic to inspire her subjects, and which fork to use during fancy meals, and the paperwork, and negotiating trade deals that didn't involve drunken karaoke, and the paperwork. Did she mention the paperwork? She really hated the paperwork.

"Princess Lunas letter was vague. You will be briefed when you reach Canterlot." Starshine hesitated a beat, then continued pacing the length of the room.

"All I can tell you is that an alicorn is needed to undergo a quest. And it can only be an alicorn. She requested me, but I cannot leave our ponies at this time. Which is why I am sending you. As a Princess of Trot, you have a responsibility to represent our family and ponies with strength, grace, and dignity. And as an alicorn, you have a sacred duty to do what High Princess Celestia asks."

Moonstruck felt even smaller. "This is serious. Like, really, really serious, isn't it?"

"Yes, I fear it is." Starshine stopped pacing and closed her eyes for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. "I know… we haven't always gotten along. And, I know that as the second sister your position is… how do I put it…."

"Superfluous." Moonstruck supplied dryly. "Pointless. Expendable. Mostly unneeded."

"I wouldn't put it that harshly." Starshine frowned. "At any rate, I am grateful for you, just as I am grateful for our dear brother Acorns Promise. Without you two around, I don' think I could begin to take over for Mother."

"So please do this. Treat it as the most important thing in the world. _And come back safe_."

Moonstruck stared at the floor. _It's either this_ , she thought, _or back to the Green Dragon to try to heckle ponies into playing poker while I wait around for a_ _dragon_ _–_ _or_ _any kind of monster – to try to start trouble._

She loved card games, and card tricks. And winning. But, Breezy had brought up a good point earlier; what _would_ she do when there was no one left to play? She probably actually had played half the ponies in Trot. She'd already toured the tiny queendom twice in search of new opponents and smaller causes to support.

Back when she'd first started there were lines out the door to play a few rounds of cards with her, but now she was lucky if two or three ponies decided to give it a shot on the days she set up shop in the _Green Dragon_ – or any of the other saloons around the country. Would it be the same in Equestria? Would the celebrity circuit be any better, or would ponies get tired of her winning all the time, and stop paying attention? Would she even be allowed to compete? Did she even want to?

She focused on her reflection on the smooth stone floor; noted vaguely that only her eyes had any color. Her shimmering periwinkle mane was washed out, and her dark gray coat had lost its luster in this lighting and the imperfect mirror of the white marble floor. She looked as hollow as she wouldn't admit to feeling as of late. She let out a breath and looked up, her forelock hanging half over her face.

"Okay, I'll go. And I'll try my best."

* * *

Moonstruck was pensive when she teleported back to the sidewalk outside the _Green Dragon,_ very much inclined to simply look at the street for a while, a strange sense of finality settling deep in her guts. Like she'd never see this place again. She did look, for a few moments, noted that the oak trees that lined the street were leafing out spectacularly, and the moss and ferns growing on their branches were bright and green and healthy. The painted wooden sign of the saloon needed to repainted, although she had a certain affinity for its faded gold lettering, and coiled green dragon sipping a flagon of frothy cider.

She shook herself then pushed the door open, pausing a moment in the entry to let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. Breezy and Patch were right where she'd left them, playing a game of war, from the looks of it.

"Yeah, apparently I have to go on a quest." She said once she was back at the table.

They laughed, then quieted when she didn't laugh with them.

"Really?" Breezy asked, furrowing her brow, as Patch pulled her ears back.

"Yep. They're already prepping a carriage for Canterlot."

"We get to come with you, right?" Patch asked.

"No, not this time. I have to go alone." Moonstruck shook her head. "Top level stuff, I guess. I don't even get to find out what it is until I get there."

"And you agreed to go!?" Patch gasped.

"You, on a quest, by yourself?" Breezy narrowed her eyes. "Aren't you too lazy to walk? I mean, you're a decent flier, and good with magic, and you can do the thing with the woosh, and the KABOOM and the rawwwww!" She reared up on her hind legs and flailed her hooves for a few seconds.

"But you've never left Trot, and Trot isn't even that big!"

"Hey! I go to Vanhoover sometimes!" Moonstruck was feeling a bit attacked, though Breezy was not wrong.

"Vanhoover's just across the strait, it doesn't count." Breezy huffed.

Moonstruck gave her a sour look. "Yeah, well, it's something only an alicorn can do, and everyone else is busy, so I get to go."

She shrugged uncomfortably. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she wasn't really cut out for questing. Sure, there was the whole dragon slaying thing, and she played some tabletop RPG's and some fantasy card games, so she understood the _theory_ of proper questing. She'd just never felt the urge to leave the queendom, aside from zipping across the Orca Strait to haunt Vanhoover from time to time. Vanhoover had cool stuff. She did like camping, at least.

"Oh, that makes sense." Breezy said into her thoughts. "And you don't really have anything to do most of the time."

Patch nudged the pegasus and gave her a reproachful look.

"How very reassuring." Moonstruck grumbled. "I guess I'll be gone for a while. Better grab what munchies you can from the castle kitchen 'cause I don't think Starshine 'n Acorn'll let you in to raid the fridge whenever you feel like it."

"You really are going!" Patch gasped, as Moonstruck plopped a few coins on the table and started gathering up her poker stuff.

"Yup."

"And we're really not going with you?" Breezy gasped.

"Nope."

"They're definitely not gonna let us into the castle for no reason, are they? Even though they know us."

"Highly unlikely."

They exchanged glances. "We'll help you pack."

* * *

"Ah, perfect timing, the carriage is almost ready." Starshine said as Moonstruck came down the last flight of stairs to the main courtyard with full saddlebags, and an extra pack on her back.

"It will take you the rest of the day, and most of the night to get to Canterlot, provided the wind is favorable. I didn't want to pull weather ponies away from their usual duties, so you'll have to deal with the scheduled weather on the mainland."

Moonstruck paused at the bottom of the stairs. "What? I'm leaving now?"

"Yes." Starshine sighed, turning her back to the proceedings. One of the royal flying carriages was being prepared with six harnesses for six pegasus up front. She knew it was possible to have more than two pegasus pull a passenger carriage, but she'd never seen anyone hitch up more than four at a time – and four was rather unusual.

"Guess they weren't kidding about getting there as fast as possible." Moosntruck muttered, slipping out of her saddlebags and hoofing them off to an attendant. They promptly trotted over and placed the bags in the storage area.

"Indeed." Starshine nodded.

Breezy and Patch came down the stairs just then, each holding up one side of a large, folded blanket. Attendants rushed over to take it from them.

"Wow, leaving already?" Patch yelped.

"Apparently." Moonstruck shrugged.

"Dang, six pegaus. You're gonna haul tail." Breezy whistled.

"I know, right? Who even does that?" Moonstruck chuckled.

Starshine frowned at the common ponies. "Neither of you should be here, this is supposed to be a secret."

Moonstruck masked a grimace with a cough. "Oooooh, don't worry; I'm sure half of Trot knows by now."

"News does travel quickly 'round here." Patch said vaguely.

"Especially when a certain princess announces that she's going on a mysterious quest in the middle of the _Green Dragon_." Breezy added not quite under her breath.

Patch nudged her winged companion roughly as Starshine let out a long sigh.

"I suppose everyone would have found out eventually anyway." The young queen muttered in defeat.

"Yeah, I think Acorns more of a gossip than we are," Said Breezy, eyeing Patch darkly.

"I am _not_ a gossip." Patch huffed. "But… Prince Acorn _is_ a good source of information."

"Which is precisely why I didn't tell him." Starshine stated firmly.

Moonstruck half turned to look at her sister. "Okay, I have done some dumb things in my time, but _not_ telling Acorn takes the cake." She was slightly ashamed that she hadn't noticed that her little brother was not in attendance to see her off.

"It's as you said. He'd tell too many ponies, and he'd only worry." Starshine rolled her eyes.

"Like he won't worry if I up and leave out of the blue like Mom did?" Moonstruck snarled.

Starshine took a step back, her white coat somehow getting paler. Breezy and Patch took three large steps back, hoping they were clear of the blast radius.

"I was going to tell him! Just… not right away!" Starshine blurted, suddenly dropping her queenly voice for something more sisterly. "You know how much he worries! I was just going to tell him you decided to go on holiday, then mention that you sent word that you were having an adventure or something. It's damage control! He's even worse about keeping secrets than you are!"

"Really? You think he's dumb enough to believe that?" Moonstruck growled. "The poor colts traumatized! You know Mom leaving hit him harder than anyone else." She lowered her head and fanned her wings.

"Besides, I already spilled the beans. You need to remember to tell me when things are a friggin' secret!"

"I thought you were more mature than that!" Starshine hissed. "Clearly I was mistaken!"

"Never underestimate my big mouth. Or my magic!" Moonstruck snapped. Then she teleported.

Her brother was generally easy to find; at this time of the afternoon he was typically in the south orchards inspecting the hazelnut trees. Moonstruck shook a bit of static from her fur, mane and feathers, then moved into the old grove at a trot. Starshine was not a strong teleporter; had only just gotten comfortable with line-of-sight teleportation in the past few years, and she absolutely refused to use Moonstrucks nodestone trick to zero in on locations without a line-of-sight destination – which was easier in many ways. She would have to fly at least part of the way to get within sight of the orchard, which meant Moonstruck had a few minutes. Luckily Acorn was not very deep into the ancient grove.

"Hey, Acorn, I'm going on a quest, 'kay?" She said once she was in earshot.

"Huh?" He looked up from the plant he'd been investigating.

"Yeah, something top secret from High Princess Celestia. I'm gonna be gone for a while. Starshine didn't want to tell you." Moonstruck panted as she came to a stop in front of her flabbergasted brother.

"WHAT? Wha – when are you leaving? And Why didn't Starshine want me to know!?" His jaw dropped open, and seemed inclined to stay there.

"As soon as the carriage is ready to go. And because you're a blabbermouth." Moonstruck shrugged.

He closed his mouth. Opened it again, then closed it, worked his jaw around a little.

"I'm not sure what to tackle first."

"Neither am I." Moonstruck shook her head. "Starshine will be here soon, and she is gonna be miffed, so I'm gonna pop back to the main courtyard. You gonna see me off, or what?"

"Yeah, of course! Can I use your nodestones?"

"Sure, if you can find 'em." Moonstruck grinned, then teleported back to the balcony above the main courtyard. She hopped over the rail and fluttered down to where her friends were still waiting. Acorn popped into existence a few moments later. He shook off, then hopped over the railing, casting a quick spell to allow himself to land relatively lightly on the ground below.

"Ugh, still getting used to that."

"Yeah, it can take a while. You're taking this surprisingly well." Moonstruck noted, then to her friends, "How long since Starshine left?"

"About three minutes ago." Breezy supplied.

"H-hi Prince Acorn." Patch ducked her head and blushed darkly. Breezy smirked at the earth pony, but didn't comment.

Acorn noticed the common ponies, made a funny, panicked sort of face, then straightened up before dipping into a short bow.

"Good afternoon Heather Patch, Spring Breeze. I hope the day has been pleasant for you thus far."

Breezy and Patch giggled. They could never keep a straight face whenever Acorn acted princely. Which was whenever he was in public, or around his sisters friends.

He straightened up, then shuffled a little uncomfortably.

"It's okay, bud, you can talk all common-like." Breezy winked and adopted a thick drawl.

"Breezy!" Patch hissed, nudging Breezy as Moonstruck giggled.

Acorn blinked a few times, then shrugged. "I'm actually kind of glad you're going."

Moonstruck felt her eyebrows travel up towards her mane. "Really?"

"Yeah, well..." he nudged a pebble with a hoof. "I know I've been moping around the gardens a lot lately, and Starshine has been keeping herself super busy to keep her mind off of… but you just seem really lost. I mean, you don't have many official duties, but before you always seemed to be able to keep yourself amused, at least."

He shrugged. "I mean, when was the last time you TP'd Starshine's office? The taps haven't run rainbow in ages, and I can't even remember the last time you turned all of the cottonwood fuzzies into tiny butts."

"This just seems like it might be a good thing for you."

Acorn was the one pony who always appreciated her pranks. Moonstruck felt a feeling of sisterly pride swelling in her chest. Naturally she had to squash it the only way she knew how. She sidled over to her brother, got him in a headlock, and proceeded to administer a hearty noogie.

"D'aaawwwww my widdle brudder's all grown up and makin' wise decisions and stuff!"

"ACK! MOONEEEEYYYY!" Acorn squealed, trying desperately to escape. Moonstruck really had to plant her hind hooves – he was getting strong!

"Aww c'mon! Not in front of your friends, at least! You're ruining my imaaaage!"

"But I won't be able to overpower you much longer! Indulge your big sisterrrr!" Moonstruck cackled, then let him go. She bumped foreheads with him – or at least as much as unicorns could bump foreheads without impaling one another. "Thank you."

He chuckled wearily. "Yeah. And for the record, I can totally overpower you now. I was just playing along."

"Pff, yeah, right."

"Yeah, I know I'm right."

"Wanna bet?"

"Bring it on!"

Starshine landed with a loud fwoosh and a heavy thump. She lifted her head and gave Moonstruck an irate stare, breathing hard. Her mane was disheveled in such a way that indicated she'd likely botched another teleport spell, and had to fly much faster than she'd wanted to keep up with her more teleportation-savvy siblings.

"I'm a blabbermouth!?" Acorn blurted in his whiniest tones, he even managed to get his voice to crack a little.

Starshine hung her head, still panting. "Oh, good grief!"

Breezy, whom had already been laughing hard at the noogies, proceeded to fall on her side and roll around on the ground. Patch was too enamored with the prince acting casual to notice much else.

"Mayhem, chaos, destruction – my work here is done!" Moonstruck cackled. She started towards the carriage, which seemed to be about ready.

"Okay, good luck! Have fun! Bring me back something cool!" Acorn called after her, then turned back to his eldest sister. "But seriously, you weren't gonna tell me?"

"Well, I – wait, you're okay with this?" Starshine blinked, looking back and forth between Moonstruck, whom was arranging her things in the carriage with Breezy and Patch, and Acorn, who was scowling up at her.

"Yup. She needs out of the castle. Her moping is getting on my nerves." Acorn snorted dismissively.

"Your moping's getting on mine!" Moonstruck barked from the carriage. Acorn stuck his tongue out her, and Moonstruck replied in kind.

Starshine shook her head slowly and laughed quietly to herself. "I sometimes forget there's no winning against you two."

Goodbyes were brief, as time really was of the essence. Before Moonstruck knew it, they were aloft, speeding away from Trot and towards the distant city of Canterlot. Sunset was still a few hours off, but it felt as though the afternoon was already waning.

"So, Windwake, how about a game of I Spy?" Moonstruck shouted once they were at cruising altitude.

The pegasus stallion turned as much as he could to eye her over the backs of his teammates. Windwake was one of the team charged with getting her to Canterlot ASAP. It was a lucky break, Moosntruck had assumed that she'd be stuck with a bunch of fliers she didn't know particularly well.

"I'm kind of busy." He grumbled.

"Aw c'mon, it's easy!" Moonstruck kicked back in her seat. "I spy with my little eye…."

The other pegasai chuckled as Windwake rolled his eyes and proceeded to ignore her. Moonstruck grinned and tilted her head back to watch a high layer of clouds drift overhead. She tried to remember how long it took to get to Canterlot. She'd only been there once as a small foal, so she couldn't remember a clear time frame – everything seemed to take forever when you were little. If she were to fly herself, maintained a good clip, and stopped every night at an inn, it would probably take three or four days. She scowled up at the blue sky and made a small correction. _If she was in shape_ and flew at a good clip, stopping every night, it would take her three or four days. She hadn't done any serious flying in some time.

It was always disheartening to realize that she was still quite young as alicorns go, had a long life ahead of her, and yet, much of her glory days were likely already behind her. She shook her head and shoved that thought aside.

A fast pegasus – like the strapping young stallions pulling her carriage – could probably make it in two days if they stopped for the night. If they didn't stop, one - although they'd be exhausted when they got there. Six of them meant it would probably take a half a day, and all night traveling nonstop, as Starshine had said. She'd be able to kill that much time pretty easily.

She played solitaire for a while. Then switched it up with a tarot deck she'd bought at a street fair eons ago, but had never really done much with. Then scribbled down an idea for a new card game she'd been developing. That took her to about sunset. She pulled her lunch bag out from under her seat.

"Hey, you colts hungry? I have extra sandwiches here!" She called.

"We cannot eat on the wing, your highness!" One of the fliers – she thought his name was Seven Leaf – replied crisply.

"Nah, it's cool, I can cast a spell that'll float the sandwiches in front of you." Moonstruck offered, magicking the sandwiches into the air around her.

Windwake poked his head up. "We have to focus on flying. We'll be alright, we had a special meal before we left."

"Oh." She let the food settled back in the lunch bag. Except for one, for herself. "Well, just say the word if you get the munchies."

They did not. At least while she was awake. Moonstruck was typically something of a night owl, but she found herself drifting off shortly after sunset. She pulled a blanket over herself and settled down on the plush seat, chin resting on her forelegs, scowling ahead without seeing anything. She was determined to stay awake for a while longer, although she couldn't put her hoof on why. She wasn't fast enough to fly along with the carriage for some exercise, and the pegasai didn't seem to need her help for anything. It was probably a good idea to get as much sleep as she could now, before she set off on her quest – whatever it was.

Heaving a sigh, Moonstruck closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off.


	4. Chapter 3

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

It occurred to her belatedly that someone had been trying to wake her for some time. Possibly several someones. Moonstruck groaned and curled into a tighter ball, unwilling to let go of slumberland just yet, despite the nagging sensation that she should wake up at once, and that whomever was speaking to her was kind of important somehow, even though she couldn't place the voice.

Or, wait, actually she _could_ place that voice. The part of her mind that was somewhat ware of the situation realized she simply hadn't heard it in a long time. It was at that moment she remembered she was not in her own bed. Another moments thought made her realize that she was, in fact, outside, and it smelled quite foreign beyond her blanket.

With an irate sigh, curiosity finally managed to rouse her, and she opened her eyes to sunlight streaming through her purple blanket. She blinked a few times, then worked her head out from under the blanket to squint up at the pony who belonged to the quasi-familiar voice. A tall, elegant white alicorn stood over Moonstruck, her pastel rainbow mane billowing gently in some supernatural breeze.

Moonstrucks sleep addled brain came to a complete standstill. This was certainly a familiar, unfamiliar place. It was unfamiliar in that it didn't belong to anyone she knew personally, but familiar because she knew it all the same.

"G-good morning, High Princess Celestia!" Moonstruck croaked as she popped up into a seated position.

"I suppose that greeting still technically applies." Celestia chuckled. "You're a hard sleeper, Princess Moonstruck."

"Er… yeah." Moonstruck laughed nervously as she hastily tried to fix her mane, which was likely even messier than usual. "Did the stallions make it okay? Are they - "

"They're all fine. They've eaten and are asleep in their quarters." Celestia nodded slightly.

"Oh good."

"Your sisters letter explained the situation. I am sorry your mother chose to leave at such a time." Celestia dipped her head elegantly.

"Letter?"

"Yes," Celestia smirked, and magicked a scroll up in front of yourself. "It seems you sister suspected you would be asleep when you arrived, and left a letter with Captain Windwake as a precaution."

Moonstruck ducked her head and blushed. "Ah, ha ha… yeah I'm something of a night owl."

"My sister is the same way." Celestia chuckled. "Well, come along. There's still breakfast if you would like it. We won't be having our big meeting until this evening, as my sister will be asleep most of the day as well, and it is vital that she attends."

Moonstruck grinned sheepishly and climbed out of the carriage. "I should maybe look into some kinda nighttime job back home, so I have a legit excuse to sleep all day."

"That may be wise." Celestia agreed.

Moonstruck followed the elder alicorn across the courtyard they'd parked the carriage in, her mind racing to find a way to make up for her complete lack of decorum. This was not a good way to impress the High Princess – even though she didn't seem to mind. _Seem;_ the key word here was _seem_. It was highly likely Celestia had the best poker face in the world.

Ornate double doors opened silently before them, allowing them to step inside a vast hall lined with stained glass windows.

"I am afraid I have a few affairs to attend to before the meeting tonight, so I shall leave you with Princess Cadance and my protege for the day." Celestia said as they turned down a less vast, but still airy corridor. "They will show you around, as you will likely be here for a few days, at least."

Moonstruck nodded.

Celestia magicked a door open, and poked her head inside. "Ah, she's finally awake. This is Princess Moonstruck."

Moonstruck stepped into the doorway and grinned awkwardly, feeling like the new foal in class. "Hello!"

"Hello Princess Moonstruck!" A pink alicorn around her own age, whom could only be Princess Cadance beamed, letting out a bubbly laugh.

"Hi Princess!" Echoed around the room. Six common ponies and what appeared to be a baby dragon accompanied the princess; a board game was set up on a large table between them. A _foals_ board game. Moonstruck was intrigued.

"Moonstruck, this is my protege Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her friends Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike. They also wield the Elements of Harmony – well except for Spike."

"I _polish_ the Elements of Harmony!" Spike declared, prompting the ponies to giggle.

"I'll see you all at the meeting later." Celestia smiled softly, nodded, and left as the rest of the ponies said their respectful goodbyes.

Moonstruck stepped into the room, the door shut softly behind her. She stared at Twilight Sparkle, she hadn't noticed her wings at first, and honestly, if Celestia hadn't mentioned the title, she wouldn't have thought to look. She vaguely recalled somepony being crowned princess recently, but she couldn't remember the details.

"Wow! So many princesses are running around today!" Said the pink earth pony, suddenly appearing in front of her, bouncing excitedly.

"I thought that Celestia and Luna were the only princesses, but then a couple of years ago we met Cadance! Then Twilight was turned into an alicorn! And before all of THAT I only knew about Princess Celestia! But now you're here, and we've been learning about other queendoms all over the place, and all of the alicorns out there! Isn't it crazy!? I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way!"

Pinkie Pie somehow managed to get through all of that without pausing for breath, or well, pausing in general. She was still bouncing.

"Yeah, there's a few of us running around." Moonstruck took a small step back.

"Pinkie, take it easy!" Twilight Sparkle laughed. "You're scaring her!"

"Sorry!" Pinkie Pie chirped, then bounced back over to her seat at the table. "We're playing Candy Land, wanna play?"

"Ah, no that's okay, Candy Land isn't really my game." Moonstruck said. "And I'm kinda hungry…."

"Not your game? What games do you play?"

"Card games, mostly."

"Neat! Do you know any card tricks?"

"A few." Moonstruck had placed her favorite deck in a velvet pouch around her neck for just such an occasion. She whipped it out now, magicking the cards into the air in a dizzying display of telekenetic coordination, then brought them all whizzing back neatly into their box, then into the pouch.

"COOL!" Pinkie Pie lead the chorus of admiration.

"They call me Maverick Moonstruck for a reason." She winked. "But anyway, Princess Celestia said something about a late breakfast…?"

"Oh yes, you haven't eaten yet." Cadance said. "I think I can go for some brunch."

There was general agreement around the table, so they cleaned up their game, and headed down to the palace kitchens to see what they could make off with. A short while later they had an impromptu picnic in the palace gardens. With a bit of good food in her belly, and a pleasant breeze ruffling her mane, Moonstruck felt much more awake, and at home. She, of course, had some knowledge of the Elements of Harmony, and knew the tale of Princess Lunas liberation from the clutches of the dark powers, but she'd never expected to be plopped down in the grass with the wielders of such elements, nor Equestrias newest Princess.

"So, Princess Moonstruck, where are you from again?" The orange earth pony – Applejack – asked after a few minutes of idle chatter.

"Trot."

"Trottingham?" The white unicorn – Rarity, asked, perking up a tad.

"Just Trot. It's pretty small. Off the coast of Vanhoover."

"Trot's chief exports are hazelnuts, pumpkins, high quality obsidian, and a particular type of seaweed that is widely used in dyes and pigments." Twilight Sparkle said, sitting up straighter. "Your country is also known for being the only kingdom other than Equestria to have two alicorns born in one generation."

Moonstruck blinked back her surprise. "Yes, that's right!"

"I've been reading." Twilight Sparkle beamed.

"Is that unusual? To have more than two alicorns to a family?" Applejack asked, furrowing her brow.

"Extremely rare." Twilight sparkle nodded. "I couldn't find out anything as to _why_. Perhaps Princess Moonstruck can explain it?"

"Eh, no one really knows for sure." Moonstruck shrugged. "It's just kinda hit and miss. It is true that we don't have foals very often, but most of those foals are one of the three tribes of pony – not all three at once. Most alicorn foals are fillies, colts are extremely rare."

"Ah, that must be why Princess Celestia has unicorn and pegasus relatives." Rarity mused. "I have often wondered about that."

"So how did alicorns get started? Did a unicorn marry a pegasus a long time ago, and end up with an alicorn?" Rainbow Dash scowled. "Or are they all like Twilight and unlocked a special achievement?"

Moonstruck snorted a laugh, and hoof bumped the rainbow maned pegasus. She had never heard of anyone _becoming_ an alicorn before she met Twilight Sparkle. As far as she knew you were either born one, or you weren't. She made a mental note to ask Celestia later.

"Nope, my third cousin Honeycrisp knew a unicorn and pegasus family. She said they had two pegasus and a unicorn." Applejack shook her head.

"And remember Mr. and Mrs. Cake are earth ponies, but they had a pegasus and a unicorn." Fluttershy piped up. Or whispered up, rather.

"According to the lore, alicorns were the original race of pony, but over time, pegasus, unicorns and earth ponies born of those alicorns split off and formed their own tribes." Princess Cadance said, then took a sip of tea.

"Really? I've never read that anywhere! Twilight Sparkle perked her ears up curiously.

"It's an old story. Very old." Cadance shrugged. "No one's been able to prove or disprove it, but it could explain our grab-bag genetics." She chuckled. "And our capacity to _become_ alicorns, under the right conditions."

"So, where could I read this lore?" Twilight Sparkle pressed.

Cadance stared up at the tree they were sitting under. "Oh dear, um, probably in the folklore section of the library. I don't remember what book I read it in, to be honest."

"Hmmmmm..." Twilight eyed the castle, clearly inclined to go take a look through the library.

"We don't have time," Spike sighed. "It could take you ages to find the right book, and we leave tomorrow morning."

"Just a few hours wouldn't hurt!"

"But once you get looking, you won't want to stop! I'm the same way when I go shopping in Canterlot." Rarity chuckled.

"And we're already overdue to be back in Ponyville." Applejack shook her head. "Remember? The only reason we're still here is because Princess Celestia asked us to stick around for some big important meeting tonight. Otherwise we woulda gone home three days ago."

Twilight Sparkle slumped, crestfallen.

"Tell ya what; I'll see if I can find the book, and I'll send it to your library in Ponyville." Cadance offered. "I suppose it's my fault I brought it up. And it might have been in the Crystal Empire palace library, anyway."

"Really? Thanks!" Twilight beamed.

"Hey, that reminds me, does anyone know what the meeting is about?" Applejack asked.

"All I know is that I was summoned here because they need an alicorn to go on some kinda quest, and I was the only one who's available." Moonstruck shrugged.

"I'm available." Twilight Sparkle muttered under her breath.

"I heard they found something really weird way out past Griffonstone." Pinkie Pie chirped.

"What kind of weird?" Fluttershy squeaked, ducking her head.

"I dunno, but I overheard some nurses talking about it yesterday. They seemed pretty confused."

"Nurses?" Applejack lifted a brow.

"Yeah! I think they work in the palace hospital wing."

"Now that you mention it, I saw an ambulance carriage fly in the morning after we got here, and they were coming in outta the north." Rainbow Dash mused. "They took a weird route in though; if I hadn't taken my morning fly around the north side of the mountain I never would have seen 'em."

"It doesn't have anything to do with the Crystal Empire, does it Cadance?" Rarity asked, eagerly looking to the princess in question.

She started. "What? No. Not that I've heard."

"But you have heard something." Moonstruck pointed out.

"What makes you say that?" Cadance gave her a curious look.

"The way you almost choked on your tea." Moonstruck eyed her cooly. "I don't think it was about the Crystal Empire, but that she asked you specifically."

"Well, the Crystal Empire _is_ north of here."

"It is, and I heard what happened. Doesn't explain why asking you would be startling."

Now everyone was looking at Cadance. Her eyes darted around the group, then she heaved a sigh and slumped. "Yes, I know something, but I've been sworn to secrecy."

"Ooooooooooo! A secret!" Pinkie Pie bounced to her hooves. "What if we guess!?"

"Heh, you can try. This one's pretty out there!" Cadance chortled.

"Does Shining Armor know?" Twilight asked slyly.

Cadance opened her mouth to reply, then paused and tilted her head to the side. "I don't know. He's been busy lately, so we've hardly spoken the last couple of days."

"Hmmm."

"This has really got you curious, hasn't it?" Applejack noted.

"Well, yeah! I mean, there's a quest only an alicorn can go on, something mysterious happening in the north, and we've been asked to attend a top secret meeting. Something big is happening – and if my brother knows about it, I can totally twist his leg into telling me!" Twilight laughed.

"I prefer to noogie." Moonstruck nodded. "Noogies always work."

"He's my older brother, so not so much, no." Twilight Sparkle giggled.

"Heh, yeah that makes a difference. I guess it helps that Acorn is terrible at keeping secrets, anyway. If you want the whole Queendom to know something, just tell him; everypony'll know by the end of the day." Moonstruck laughed.

Everyone giggled. A few moments later, a tired gray and green pegasus sauntered over and plopped down next to Moonstruck.

"Hey." Windwake grunted, then grabbed a small bunch of grapes off the nearest plate.

"Ah, finally, no more Professional Captain Windwake." Moonstruck smirked. "Shouldn't you still be passed out somewhere?"

"Meh, I'm off duty. And I couldn't sleep anymore. So what're you gals up to?" Windwake gulped down a grape.

"Trying to figure out what the super secret important meeting is about later!" Pinkie Pie blurted. "Princess Cadance knows, but she won't tell us!"

"Isn't that kind of her job?" Windwake rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, I really want to tell you, but I can't."

Windwake started and sat up abruptly, staring at the pink alicorn in horror. He bounded to his hooves, then dropped into a low, wide winged bow. A grape fell out of his mouth as he did so, which effectively ruined the gesture.

"Forgive me, Your Highness! I am afraid in my fatigued state I did not notice your most noble presence!"

"Eh, everyone this is Windwake. Windwake, this is everyone." Moonstruck said into the awkward silence that followed. "He's one of my besties, and also very formal and professional – even when he doesn't need to be."

"That's enough, Captain. No need to be so formal." Cadance sighed after everyone had introduced themselves. "Just Cadance is fine."

Out of the corner of her eye, Moonstruck could just see Twilight carefully tuck her wings tight against her flanks.

Windwake twitched slightly then sat down next to Moonstruck. "They spend years and years drilling manners and decorum into you, and what happens? _Oh don't worry about that, we're all friends here_!" He snorted. Everyone laughed.

"You should feel lucky that even in Canterlot formality is just a formality." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "You'd be in a heck of a lotta trouble right now if it wasn't."

"She's got a point there." Applejack agreed.

Windwake shrugged. "So, what's this about a secret meeting?"

"Not so secret anymore." Cadance shook her head.

"I probably woulda heard it from Mooney at some point." Windwake smirked. "She's the worst gossip in the queendom."

"I am not! Acorn wears that crown." Moonstruck snorted.

"Right. Correction, you're the worst _unintentional_ gossip in the queendom." He grinned.

Moonstruck sighed wearily as everyone giggled. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, have _you_ heard about anything weird?"

"Nope, been asleep most the day." Windwake helped himself to some pudding.

The speculation didn't go far, and soon the conversation moved on to more day to day topics over a round of cards. Mostly Black Jack, since there were too many ponies and not enough cards to play an effective game of anything else. After a while they decided to head down into the city for a while – except for Windwake, whom had grown sleepy again and gone back to his bunk.

Moonstruck hadn't been to Canterlot since a trip the family took when she was a little foal. She couldn't remember much of it, but what she could recall had seemed much larger in her memories. Of course, she was much larger now, so everything would seem smaller. The city was no less grand, just not as monumentally huge as her skewed foalhood memory. She enjoyed spending time with Princess Cadance, and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, but as the afternoon wore on, she began to miss Breezy and Patch. They would have loved this. She also wished Windwake was with her; she hadn't gotten much time to hang out with him since he had made captain. Really, since he graduated from the academy. That was… how long ago? Five or six years? It was amazing how time had gotten away from her. It seemed like only yesterday she, Windwake, Breezy and Patch were foals.

"Princess Moonstruck…?"

Moonstruck shook herself and turned around. Applejack was giving her a funny look

"Huh? Sorry, zoned out there."

"C'mon, it's almost dinner time; we need to get back to the palace."

"Right, right. Early dinner, then the meeting." Moonstruck nodded and followed Applejack back to the rest of the mares, whom were gathered on the street corner. How long had she been staring off into space?

"Thinkin' 'bout home?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, my friends would love it here. They've never been to Canterlot." Moonstruck said. "I couldn't bring them along this time."

"Maybe next time they can come." Applejack beamed.

Moonstruck recalled all of the secrecy surrounding the reason she'd been summoned and forced a smile.

* * *

Dinner was a casual affair, served on a terrace with a view of the valleys below the mountains Canterlot was perched on. They could see Ponyville in the distance, the common ponies were quick to point out. It looked like a cute little berg, as near as Moonstruck could tell. They were summoned a short while after finishing their meal, and led up to an ornate conference room somewhere in the upper levels of the palace.

Princess Luna fluttered in to a landing out on the balcony and stepped into the room as they were finding their seats.

"Am I early?"

"On time as far as I know." Cadance said, sitting down daintily on a cushion to the left of the head of the oval table. Luna sat on the right, leaving the center cushion free for Princess Celestia. Moonstruck took the cushion two cushions down from Cadance, allowing Twilight Sparkle to sit between she and Cadance, since they seemed very close. A unicorn stallion trotted in a few moments later, looking a bit out of breath.

"Shining Armor!" Twilight Sparkle grinned and bounced over to greet her older brother.

"Hey! 'Bout time I got to see my little sister. And you've been here, what, a week?" He ambled around to nuzzle Cadance.

"You've been busy." Twilight Sparkle shrugged. "You can take my seat if you want. I didn't know you were going to be here."

Moonstruck hastily moved down another cushion so that Twilight Sparkle could sit next to her brother and sister-in-law.

"I didn't know I was going to be here, either. Just got he message." Shining armor said as he sat down between his wife and sister.

"Hi princess Luna!" Pinkie Pie chirped, plopping down next to the alicorn in question. "Are you gonna come back to Ponyvill this Nightmare Night and scare everyone again?"

A ghost of the smirk tugged at Lunas lips. "Perhaps."

She turned her gaze to Moonstruck and lifted a brow. "Princess Moonstruck, I presume."

"Yes, well met, Princess Luna." Moonstruck dipped her head respectfully, remembering her manners for once.

"You wear no crown." It wasn't a question.

Moosntruck blinked a few times then looked up – not that she the stop of her own head.

"Ah… no, crown's aren't really my style. I probably should have brought it with me, now that you mention it…."

Princess Luna smirked openly this time, but said no more.

A small troupe of unicorns trotted in, and began pulling curtains shut. Princess Celestia walked in after them with no fanfare. A large screen was drawn down from the ceiling, prompting Spike to hop up and help set up the projector.

"This will not be a formal meeting, Celestia said as she sat down at the head of the table. "In case you were wondering."

"Oh good!" Pinkie Pie beamed, then let out a loud burp. Everyone laughed. Rainbow Dash bumped hooves with the pink pony.

"However, what you will learn here does not leave the room, understand?"

The troupe of unicorns finished their work, bowed and left. As soon as the doors shut, Princess Celestia dimmed the lights. Spike fired up the projector.

"I am afraid there is much more to this, but time is of the essence, so I will only discuss what is absolutely vital now. Don't worry Twilight, I've already had the books sent to your library in Ponyville. They should be waiting for you when you get home." Princess Celestia said, smiling fondly at her student.

Twilight Sparkle grinned.

Celestia cleared her throat. "Roughly a thousand years ago, a massive conflict shook our world, and shattered the tenuous peace that we had gained after Discord's defeat. First slide, please."

An old map of the world appeared on the screen, not looking much different than it did now; albeit with a few name changes, and a lack of railroad routes. Moonstruck had to stare hard at it to spot the differences. Last she knew the area east of the BugBear Mountains, and the Griffon Territories was largely unexplored, except for the area east of the Rosalia Sea that split the Przwalski Steppes in two, but this map showed a country nestled on the eastern slopes of the BugBear range north east of Griffonstone, and bordered on the east by the Rosalia Sea.

"The nature of the conflict was..." Celestia grimaced slightly. "Complex. Far from here, east of the BugBear Mountains, there once was a mighty kingdom. In those days it was known as Roanamia, but today they are called the Broken Lands." She gestured to Spike. The next slide appeared.

This was a modern map, and did indeed depict that mysterious blank space that Moonstruck was more familiar with as being unexplored. Here, the southern spar of the BugBear mountains that swept east across the steppe, which had formed the southern border of this Roanamia was labeled _The Broken Mountains_. The area north of those hills was blank.

Spike moved on to the next slide, which was another old map of the lost country. This map was far more detailed, and notes scribbled here and there indicated that his was the most recent map before whatever happened, happened. The wayward spur of the Bugbear Mountains was not a solid mass, as the larger map had depicted; it was actually separated from the rest of the range by a large, deep gorge. The spur was labeled as the _Rosaceae Range_. The country was nestled in a vast, wide plain north of those mountains, and the Unexplored Glaciers formed the northern border. The interior of the valley appeared to be mostly steppe, as it was on the western portion of the Przwalski Region, although detached from the rest of the steppes by the Rosalia sea, and labeled as the _Plains of Roanham_.

"These maps are not widely available to the public, because Roanamia both is, and is not there."

Moonstruck looked back just in time to see Celestia scowl at the screen.

"The country is likely still there, but most ponies cannot reach it. The mountain range and the lands beyond are completely inaccessible to anypony whom cannot fly, nor use magic. In that way, it may as well not be there."

Moonstruck bit her lip. _Something only an alicorn could do, right._

"The closest settlement is a tiny frontier town a mere twenty miles from the southern foothills. That is the closest anypony has come to these mountains in some time, and the residents have not seen anything enter or exit the area since the town was founded some three hundred years ago. Even animals do not attempt to scale the mountains."

The slide changed to reveal a rather lovely shot of massive, snow capped crags that were both dazzling and foreboding. The foothills leading up to the mountains seemed normal enough, but the peaks themselves were steep walls of stone; likely very near vertical and difficult to pass from the ground. Moonstruck suspected the wind was strong, and unpredictable up there as well.

"Nothing, that is until two weeks ago."

The slide changed again. It was taken from a different location, but the jagged peaks were easily recognizable. There, drifting serenely above them, visible through a semi-circular gap in one peak in particular, was a massive zeppelin of a design Moonstruck had never seen before. She suspected nopony else had either.

"We do not know what became of the Broken Lands since the conflict," Celestia continued, "the cataclysm that caused the country to disappear has a memory of sorts; no elder alicorns may approach without the fear of… well, we just don't know. I suspect if I were to come within sight of the mountains my magic may well trigger another cataclysm. Princess Luna may be able to get through the mountains themselves but she had a, ah, different relationship with the event."

Luna didn't flinch, stared at the slide without looking at the ponies whom were all looking questioningly at her.

"Princess Cadance, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Moonstruck are all young enough to pass through these mountains without causing alarm, but Cadances magic is not suited for this kind of journey. Twilight Sparkle, I fear is simply too inexperienced to navigate the situation, and you work best with your friends, who will not be able to pass through the mountains. Which leaves Princess Moonstruck."

"What makes you think _I'm_ suited for it!?" Moonstruck blurted, then ducked her head, pulling her ears back.

Celestia gave her an amused look. "If I recall correctly, your special ability is combat related. You're also a bit of a prankster, good at illusions and sleight of hoof, yes?"

"Ye-yeah." Moonstruck scowled. It wasn't surprising that Celestia knew about the dragon slaying thing, the pranks though….

"And your father was responsible for much of Trots unique use of gems and nodestones in espionage, was he not?"

"He was..." Moonstruck swallowed hard, "and I _do_ know how to set up and use a lot of 'em… though I don't use them to do the one thing."

"What do you do?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Lets just say dragons don't like to venture into Trot anymore." Moonstruck smirked.

"Anyway, back on topic." Celestia interjected. "The zeppelin was certainly interesting; what was found several days later was highly concerning."

She brought the lights up in the room as the door opened slowly. A nurse stepped in, and beckoned a pony to follow. A lean, brown and white pegasus pony with a number of bandaged limbs limped cautiously into the room. She looked around, spotted the alicorns, then threw herself on the ground, shaking like a leaf, and muttering apologies and praises. Moonstruck couldn't place her accent.

Moonstruck got up and moved cautiously around the table as the others craned their necks to see. There was something off about this pony. Something… almost… feral. She was smaller than average for a pegasus, but her wings were much larger; folded, her wrists rested past her withers, and her primaries stretched past her haunches. Unfurled, Moonstruck Suspected, she would have an impressive wingspan – perhaps as large as Celestia, whom was over twice the size of an average pegasus. If she had a cutie mark her wings were covering it. The pony was also very lanky and muscular, with a barrel chest, slim waist, and short mane and tail. Her head was almost more dog-like, with a larger mouth and long canines that were clearly visible due to the grimace she wore.

"It's alright, little one, we mean you no harm." Celestia cooed soothingly as Cadance trotted over and touched her horn to the mares forehead.

The pony squeaked, shuddered, then let out a shaky breath. She climbed to her hooves, but would not look up at them. The common ponies moved in a little closer. Fluttershy stepped out in front of them slightly.

"It's okay, I was a little afraid of the princesses at first too, but they're all very nice."

The strange pegasus looked up at Fluttershy. Seeing her face in profile truly highlighted the differences between the ponies. Fluttershy, like all of the common pony mares, had a round head, short muzzle and large eyes. This pegasus had a triangular, more streamlined head with a longer, squarer muzzle that was more akin to a stallions head, but with a more delicate structure.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, what's your name?" Twilight asked.

The pegasus flinched when Twilight spoke. She bit her lip. "Sarah."

"That's… an odd name. Pretty, I suppose. In a way." Rarity said after an awkward silence.

"What kind of name is Twilight Sparkle?" The pegasus snorted softly, then cringed again. "Forgive me, I… I am not used to friendly unicorns. Much less," she gulped, "alicorns."

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Well, you don't have to worry, everypony's pretty nice 'round these parts!" Applejack beamed. "Where ya from, sugarcube?"

"I am of the Waterfall Castle Clan." Sarah hesitated. "Out of the prying eyes of the Watchers."

"Watchers? Like, bird watchers?" Pinkie Pie scowled.

"You… I have been told that you do not have a godqueen here. Nor watchers who search for you, or catchers that take you down to the valleys to pull flying carriages until you die from exhaustion." Sara said slowly, as if speaking to a small foal.

Everypony took a step back.

"Goodness no!" Twilight Sparkle gasped.

"Yeah, some pegasus ponies pull flying carriages, but that's their job! They get paid for it!" Rainbow Dash added. The others nodded.

Sarah gave them an incredulous look. "So I have been told."

"How did you end up here?" Moonstruck asked.

Sarah flinched, wouldn't look up at her. "I got lost during a raid. The Catchers fell upon our hunting party without warning. We scattered. I flew deep into the mountains to escape." She bit her lip. "I don't know what happened to my family. If they were able to find our hunting party…."

She closed her eyes and hung her head. "I flew for as long as I could. Somehow, eventually I ended up on the other side of the mountains. I don't know how; no one has ever done it before."

She gritted her teeth, baring her unusually long fangs. "We would have left long ago if we could, but the way is always blocked. We would always be sent in circles."

She took a deep breath, then continued. "The airship chased me over the crest of the mountains. I escaped, but at a price." She frowned back at her bandaged wing.

There were a few murmurs of sympathy from the gathered ponies.

"How did the airship get there?" Moonstruck asked, furrowing her brow. "If it's impossible to cross the mountains, how did it find you?"

"I don't know." Sarah shook her head slowly, eyes wide and haunted. "I ended up out there by accident. The mountains are always changing, never the same twice. They… I guess they were close enough to come through too."

"Princess Celestia said the nearest town was twenty miles from the foothills." Applejack furrowed her brow. "Did you crash near the town?"

"No." At this the pony scowled contemplatively. "There was a dragon. He brought me to safety. Dragons are not friendly where I come from."

"Dragons aren't typically friendly here, either." Rarity noted. "Except for Spikey Wikey."

Spike beamed.

Sarah looked up at the little dragon perched on a tall stool by the projector, stared at him for a long moment. Spike waved.

"This is a strange place." She muttered.

"I think your place is stranger." Pinkie Pie quipped.

"If what you say is true, and most of the world is like this," Sarah gestured with her good wing, "you may be right."

Moonstruck scowled and took note of the way Sarah had moved her wing. It was less like a hand, and more like a bird; just a quick flick, opening it very briefly.

"Hey, um, just out of curiosity," Moonstruck opened one wing, rotated the limb forward and up, then wiggled her wing-fingers. "Can you do this?"

Sarah glanced up at her in a sideways manner, then gaped at her wing. "Of course not! How are you doing that!?"

"Huh." Moonstruck stared down at her wing, slowly curled and uncurled the fingers, then folded it back at her flank. Pegasus ponies actually had more bat-like wings, but instead of membranes stretched between the wing fingers, they had specialized feathers. This allowed them to use their wings as hands in some instances, not to mention alter the shape of their wings in ways birds, and bats could never dream of. Sarah seemed to have more birdlike wings.

It meant something. Everything about this pony meant something, but Moonstruck couldn't put her hoof on what. She looked over at Twilight Sparkle, who shrugged helplessly. She was stuck as well. They turned to gaze up at Celestia, whom had remained mostly silent through all of this. She shook her head.

"All we can discern is that magic seems to function differently in Roanamia." Celestia said. "And if the magic that has kept the region separate from the rest of the world is weakening, we need to know."

"What lies beyond the mountains may be a dire threat to all of pony kind." Luna said gravely. "Beyond the injustices that Sarah has told us, there is an ancient evil there that cannot be defeated – even by the Elements of Harmony."

"What will you have us do, Princess?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"You and your friends will remain in Ponyville for now," Celestia inclined her head towards Twilight Sparkle. "Until or unless we know more, I dare not send you too far from home. I believe I will send Miss Sarah with you to finish her recovery in a relaxed setting."

"Ponyville is GREAT for relaxing!" Pinkie Pie chirped, starting to pounce. "There's lots of rivers, and ponds, and forests, and good food, and nice ponies, and the weather's always nice, and -"

"Princess Moonstruck will go to the Broken Mountains, and attempt to enter Roanamia." Celestia cut in before Pinkie Pie could really get going. "What she learns there will decide our next move."

* * *

Moonstruck did not sleep well; was disturbed by vague, foreboding dreams of impossibly tall mountains, and shadowy creatures lurking around every corner. She never had any sort of ability to predict the future, but she couldn't help but feel that the dreams were uncomfortably close to being prophetic. She wished her mother was still around; these sorts of things were her territory.

When morning finally came, she dragged herself out of bed for a light breakfast with the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, Princess Cadance, and Sarah before they all trotted over to the train station.

Cadance held court with the common ponies, Moonstruck remained politely to the side. She was glad she'd gotten to meet the six mares; they were a fun bunch. If she'd had more time, she would have happily gone to explore Ponyville with them, but she sensed she needed to get moving as soon as possible.

"Forgive me your highness, but I… I… you are going willingly into my homeland?"

Moonstruck started and looked down; Sarah was crouched a polite distance away, staring at the ground beneath her hooves.

"You really don't have to grovel." Moonstruck said. "I'm probably the least formal of all the alicorns 'round these parts, and even they don't want anyone to grovel."

Sarah grimaced, then slowly stood up. She still held her head low, and would not look directly at Moonstruck.

"F-forgive me. W-without Princess Cadances magic, it is taking all of my courage to speak with you."

"I noticed." Moonstruck sighed. "To answer your question, yeah, I guess I am."

"You are foolish." Sarah said with surprising bluntness.

"Usually." Moonstruck smirked.

Sarah did finally glance up to give her an odd look. The conductor gave the all-aboard a moment later, and the common ponies herded Sarah on to the train, chattering excitedly at Sarah, who looked quite overwhelmed.

"She'll settle in quickly." Cadance noted as the train pulled out of the station. "They're a very good bunch."

"Mmm." Moonstruck grunted.

"Twilight will probably be able to glean a lot of information from her." Cadance added.

"Most likely." Moonstruck agreed, and turned back towards the terminal. "Probably not enough to help me out before I go." She frowned.

"No, probably not." Cadance frowned as well. "Did you get a chance to read what she told the nurses."

"I did. It doesn't sound good in there."

"No, no it does not." Cadance shuddered.

Moonstruck glanced up at the main clock above the train schedule. "

Well, I have a meeting with Celestia in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'll catch you later, then." Cadance took a step back to give Moonstruck enough room to take off.

Moonstruck crouched low, then leapt into the air, beating her wings as hard as she could. She managed to clear the train station, but not the weather vane on top. She cursed under her breath as she righted it with magic before gaining speed and altitude. _Oh yes, that was super graceful. One day,_ she promised herself; _one day I'll be able to get airborn_ _e_ _without any real effort._

She made her way up to the palace, nodded to the pegasus guards gliding lazy circuits around the restricted airspace directly around the castle. She alighted gracefully on a mid-level balcony she had been informed was an acceptable landing space for a guest such as herself, shook out her mane to fix it a little then trotted inside. Celestia was in her office, going over a few scrolls, it seemed. Moonstruck was surprised that the office strongly resembled the royal offices back home; albeit much neater than her sisters desk generally was. Then again, Starshine liked to micromanage a lot of things, so her stacks of paperwork were much taller, and generally arranged into something of a haphazard city of paper skyscrapers.

"Excellent timing!" Celestia signed the scroll she'd been reading with a flourish, then set it in a small box of similar scrolls. She looked up and smiled. "Care for a game of cards?"

"Sure?" Moonstruck was not expecting that.

"Splendid!" Celestia magicked a plush stool over for Moonstruck to sit on, then pulled a deck of cards out of one of the drawers of her desk. She shuffled them expertly, then dealt as Moonstruck took her seat opposite the elder alicorn.

Moonstruck stared impassively down at her cards, her mind racing. What was Celestia up to? Did she just want to play cards, or was she testing her somehow? And for that matter, should she play to the best of her abilities, or let the most powerful alicorn in the world win a few rounds? Wait, was she even better than Celestia? Sure, she was the best player in Trot, but this was Equestria, and she was playing against an ancient alicorn at the height of her power. She resisted the urge to shake her head and shoved those thoughts aside. Worrying about it wouldn't help, and she'd find out soon enough, anyway.

At first they played in silence. Moonstruck was surprised to loose the first few hands, but she settled into an easy groove once she shook off the last of her nervousness and focused on the cards.

The cards told stories; sometimes they were short and simple; like how the ace of spades gained a slight rip in one corner that was only visible if you were holding it in a particular way; or that the six of diamonds had a printing error on the back so that it was easy to tell when your opponent had it if you knew where to look. Sometimes they were long and complex, like the wrinkled and slightly faded half of a jack of clubs that seemed to have had something spilled on it in the distant past. Players told stories too; not the idle chatter, and rambling that can happen over a card game - no, player stories were all reaction, emotion, and truths carefully or clumsily hidden from the other players, or broadcast to misdirect.

For the most part, Celestia was a good storyteller. She could keep her narrative pretty minimal, a sniff here, or a lazy blink every so often. But sometimes she would crack and twitch an ear in a particular way; or shift a wing, swish her tail as the hand neared it's climax. Over the course of a half an hour, Moonstruck had learned much of Celestias unconscious language. Or so she thought - this could all be a clever ruse, of course; simple misdirection to lull her into a false sense of security. She'd certainly done the same herself countless times.

"Your cutie mark." Celestia said into the silence a short while later. She didn't look up from her cards. "It is unusual."

"Oh?" Moonstruck grunted, startled slightly by the sudden conversation, but disciplined enough not to show it.

"It doesn't seem to have anything to do with your special ability," Celestia drew a card.

"Oh, that." Moonstruck eyed the elder alicorn over the top of her cards. "It still confuses me too, to be honest. My dad seemed to understand what it meant."

"Oh?"

"Call." Moonstruck straightened up, and tried to remember what exactly her father had said so many years ago that seemed to make the most sense.

Celestia smiled faintly and let her cards fall face up. A pair of twos.

Moonstruck smirked and let her cards fall face up. Aces and eights; dead mares hand. Second one in two days. She had never ascribed much to omens, but that couldn't be a good sign.

She glanced back at her cutie mark and frowned. It _was_ a weird one, to be honest. Alicorns usually had something to do with the sky, or an element, or something. Hers was a familiar set of symbols; a black club, in which was a red diamond, which surrounded a black spade, at the center of which was a white heart. The cutie mark was highlighted from behind by a faint star burst of lighter fur.

"Dad used to say I'm a wild card." She said, turning back to Celestia. "That my cutie mark represents my resourcefulness and unpredictability. Although to be honest, my friends can usually predict what I'm gonna do pretty well."

Celestia chuckled softly, then grew more serious. "You don't think that's what it means?"

"I... I don't know." She stared down at her reflection on the polished desktop. "It makes sense, but then again it doesn't. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with how I actually got my cutie mark, and I've been playing cards since I was a foal. And... well, my special ability isn't really something unique to me. Any alicorn can do it. Heck, Rainbow Dash can do most of it, and probably do it better." Moonstruck shrugged uncomfortably.

"And if it really was my unpredictability, I probably would have gotten my cutie mark around the same age as my friends."

Celestia tilted her head slightly to the side. "Ah, yes, I do recall hearing that you were something of a late bloomer."

"I wasn't much younger than Twilight Sparkle is now." Moonstruck said flatly.

"Hmm. Well, alicorns tend to take longer to get their cutie marks, since our power is greater and somewhat tied to the fate of pony kind"

Moonstruck nodded and fiddled with her cards a little, mind racing, feeling more sure of what she was about to say than she was earlier in the morning.

"I... I don't think I'm really cut out for this."

"For what?"

"The quest." Moonstruck sighed.

"Oh?" Celestia calmly raised an eyebrow.

Moonstruck grumbled under her breath and got up, began to pace back and forth. "Well, for one thing, I don't know why I really decided to come. For another, the thing with the dragon? Yeah, I've only really done that twice. TWICE. The first time was just this wild idea I had because I was young and stupid and it was the only thing I could think of. Sure, I practiced and got pretty good at it, and it was useful when another dragon tried to take over a corner of Trot, but I haven't used it since. Seriously, not even once. I haven't needed to."

"I read the reports. Very impressive - and clever." Celestia nodded.

"Yeah, and you know what I've been doing since then? Playing cards. Seriously, I've pretty much just been playing cards. Poker, rummy, blackjack, go-fish, old maid - you name it, I play it. I have one job - one job in the entire queendom, and it's so absurdly specific that I don't have anything to do 99.9% of the time." She stamped a hoof especially hard and tossed her head.

"I was never good at the princess stuff, which is for the best because Starshine would flip her lid if I ever tried to lessen her workload. Acorn's got his own stuff going on, will probably end up trimming everyone's hedges for free 'cause he's crazy like that."

"Two? Am I on two? Oh whatever - this quest is dangerous. Like, really really really dangerous. So dangerous it's asinine to send one pony in - alicorn or not! Even if I was in shape it'd be stupid to go alone."

"Which brings me to three - I AM NOT IN SHAPE! I can barely even get off the ground half the time! How am I supposed to even get over the mountains if I can't even take off!?"

Celestia have her an expectant stare. "Go on."

"Huh?"

"You were going to tell me why you weren't cut out for this."

Moonstruck gaped at her for a few moments. "I just did!"

"Those sounded more like reasons _to_ , go, than not to." Celestia smiled. "You're tenacious and clever, you're bored, you have nothing to do at home, and you need exercise. Although it is exceedingly dangerous, I will give you that one."

Moonstruck felt her jaw hit the floor. After a few seconds she snapped her mouth shut, only to flap it open and closed a few times, trying to find some argument against Celestia's assessment of the situation.

"I... guess... that could be interpreted that way!" She scowled. "You totally let me win, just now. Didn't you?"

Celestia laughed. "I wish! Moonstruck, when you focus, you are impossible to read, and you really are impossible to predict. In fact, after playing cards with you, and from what Cadance has told me, I think you're really quite suited for this."

Moonstruck sat down abruptly. "You had me spend time with Cadance and the Ponyville mares on purpose."

"Yes." Celestia nodded, grinning. "Yes, I did. I knew you'd be too nervous to get an accurate read on you if I were to interview you personally, so I had Cadance observe your interactions with Twilight Sparkle and her friends." She shook her head. "I was never very good at cards; Chess is my game."

"I'm seeing this now." Moonstruck nodded, wide eyed, as Celestia let out a hearty chuckle.

The elder alicorn pulled a few scrolls out of a pile and spread them out on her desk. "I should really brief you properly on your mission."

"That might be helpful." Moonstruck gulped. She stood up and shuffled back over to her stool.

"I am afraid I don't have much more to tell you than what you learned last night, and what Sarah has supplied us. The events leading up to the cataclysm are complex, and... " She frowned, "well, a bit personal."

"Princess Luna wasn't Princess Luna for long afterwords, I assume." Moonstruck said softly, glancing over the scrolls.

"No. No she was not." Celestia said softly. "But that will likely not come into play. The pony you need to worry about is Lucena. She was one of the most powerful alicorns of her day, and, from what Sarah has told us, is still just as twisted - if not more so - than the day Roanamia was lost to us."

On the scroll Celestia indicated was a drawing of an especially tall, lean alicorn mare. It was an official portrait, so she wore a calm, haughty expression, but there was still something kind of off about her; Moonstruck couldn't place what. Beneath her portrait was a detailed depiction of her cutie mark; it was a simple, four pointed star surrounded by a wreath of twinning roses. It seemed... somehow lacking.

"Yes, she has an unusual cutie mark as well." Celestia noted, apparently following Moonstruck's gaze. "We suspect this may have actually been a fake."

"You can fake a cutie mark?" Moonstruck lifted an eyebrow.

"You can. It's actually fairly simple; a low level illusion, or a little make-up will do the trick. Most ponies are not expecting it, so it's really more a matter of misdirection. Luna caught a glimpse of her true mark once; it seemed to be a green eye with a slitted pupil."

"I think I'd hide that too." Moonstruck grunted.

"She is extremely calculating and cunning. She trusts no one, and her special ability is linked to dragons. She can control them, but not indefinitely. If she keeps them under her hold for too long it drains their power. She is power mad, but she was never foolish enough to drain too much of a dragons power - doing so only weakens herself in the long run."

"During the final conflict... or perhaps before, we have never been able to discern exactly when it happened - she managed to bring one of the most powerful dragons of the time under her control. This is partially how she was able to repel every attack on her tower we could mount; and expand her magic shield out to engulf the entire country. Sarah seems to believe that the dragon is still connected to her; but this is unlikely."

"Partially?" Moonstruck asked, intrigued that her ability seemed to naturally counter this Lucenas, in a way.

Celestia frowned. "Lucena was ever mysterious in her ways. No one has ever been able to figure out how she was able to erect such a powerful shield; nor why the land broke around it as it did. Either she discovered some new way to warp space and time, or she managed to tap into an immense power source beyond anything we have encountered before. Possibly both."

"Oh goodie." Moonstruck grumbled, moving a stray piece of paper aside to stare at an ancient map. "Is the shield still there?"

"Not as near as we can tell." Celestia frowned. "The barrier that is left is likely the magical distortion itself, and not a true shield spell, otherwise, I cannot fathom a way for Sarah to have broken through without powerful magic of her own."

Moonstruck nodded. "So, this is what it's like inside the barrier?"

"This was the most current map we have." Celestia nodded. "Lucenas tower lies in the heart of Bridle-Dur, the capitol city of Roanamia. Sarah tells us that Lucena still resides in the tower, and that the city is densely populated by unicorns. You would be wise to avoid it."

"Right." Moonstrucks eyes traveled around the map. "I think I'll try to stick to the mountains, do a little poking around in any outlying villages."

"I would advise against that as well. Lucena will have spies in every village. If you are discovered, it could spell doom for both yourself, and anyone you come in contact with." Celestia shook her head. "You must use the utmost caution, and stay in the wilds as much as possible. If you _are_ discovered, hide, and if you cannot hide, fight. But always, always seek to escape. Any information you bring back is invaluable."

Moonstruck frowned. "What about the dragon?"

Celestia scowled and sifted through some of the papers, finding a crude sketch of a massive, ugly wyrm that was one of the largest ever documented, going by the size scale the artist had provided. "I doubt the dragon will be an issue; Sarah believes he is still in league with Lucena, but this is extremely doubtful. Dragons are not known for their loyalty, and Lucena would not be able to control him for long. It is more likely that Lucena has simply convinced the denizens that the dragon is still a threat."

Moonstruck had an inkling that this was not the case, but kept it to herself. "What else?"

"I fear that is about it. Unicorns will be your biggest threat for they are largely allied with Lucena (willingly or not); pegasus ponies are either scattered in small bands in the mountains or enslaved, and earth ponies are in a similar state, although they likely inhabit the vast plains of Roanham north of Bridle-Dur. It was a desolate place a thousand years ago, and we suspect that has not changed."

"From the sounds of it, pegasus ponies have either lost the knowledge, or ability to walk on clouds and control the weather. We shall know for sure once Sarah has recovered. It is entirely possible that unicorns have gained or lost some abilities as well."

Celestia sighed and stared off into the distance. "If only we had more time..." she shook her head. "The lands outside the Broken Mountains are wild, and untamed. Nopony controls the weather there, and animals tend to themselves. There is another such place nearby that is the same, but I do not have time for you to explore it, and grow accustomed to such conditions. I strongly suspect that the Broken Lands are similarly unregulated."

"I can deal with that, Trots weather is only semi-managed." Moonstruck wrinkled her nose. She was fairly certain that Celestia was talking about the Everfree Forest; a place known for being a strange patch of wild, untamed magic. There were a few such stretches of land here and there; remnants of a bygone era, many suspected.

Ponies hadn't always been around, of course; and even though Celestia had done so for eons, and pegasus ponies had been managing the weather for at least as long, the sun had to have risen on its own at some point. Alicorns were powerful and nearly immortal, but they were not gods, as many believed. Moonstruck had often wondered if the sun was actually _supposed_ to rise on its own, and that, for whatever reason, it was no longer able to do so, which is why Celestia was charged with doing it. Or maybe Celestia didn't raise the sun at all, but pretend to do so for some reason. She was sorely tempted to ask, but sensed that now was not the time.

"Oh that's right, I forgot your storms come in naturally from the ocean." Celestia drifted over to a window, stared out over the castle for a few moments.

"I do wish I could send a whole team. I can, at least send a small party with you on the journey up to the Broken Lands."

"Oh, really?" Moonstruck perked up.

"Yes. Princess Luna has volunteered to be your guide to Stirrup Springs - the frontier town just outside the Broken Mountains." Celestia nodded, then she smirked slightly. "Captain Windwake is also on board to both accompany you to Stirrup Springs, and remain in town to await your return."

Moonstruck blinked back her surprise. "Wow, really? And ha! Windwake didn't hear it from me for once!"

Celestia chuckled and shook her head. "He hasn't been fully briefed yet. How are you at illusory disguises?"

"Pretty good." Moonstruck grunted. "What kind of illusions are we talking? Just visual? Solid? Fully automated dopplegangers?"

"It would be best if you could conceal the fact that you are an alicorn." Celestia scowled. "Three pegasus on a long journey is far less interesting than two alicorns and a pegasus guard on a long journey."

"Gotcha." Moonstruck nodded. She scowled, and mulled over all of the illusion spells she knew. Most of them were fairly simple and relied on sleight of hoof, instead of a straight up projection, but she was fairly certain she could alter her appearance so that she appeared to be a common pegasus. Selecting a more powerful spell, she closed her eyes, and focused all of her energy on a mental image of herself sans horn, and with a shorter stature and smaller wings. The magic washed over her like a gentle wave, and in a few moments, Princess Moonstruck was replaced by an entirely unremarkable gray pegasus.

Celestia dipped her muzzle. "Very nice. I'm sure if anyone knew you they'd recognize you, but you likely won't be recognized where you're going."

"'S what I figured." Moonstruck shrugged, allowing the illusion to dissipate. "So, when are we leaving?"

"Four days from now, the morning after the new moon."

* * *

A/N: I didn't write this out with chapters in mind, so the story doesn't really have chapters, for the most part. But I have broken it up more for easier online reading, though some of those chunks can get pretty long.

This was one of the odd spots the canon messed up my fanon here, mostly the alicorns not being born in Equestria thing. Having a bunch of other places with other alicorns circumvented that pretty well, I think. I wish they'd state whether Equestria is the name of the planet, or just the country, or more of a catch-all term for pony controlled nations, 'cause that would explain a lot.


	5. Chapter 4

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The days leading up to the new moon were surreal. Moonstruck had a fair amount of reading to do, some survival training, and a refresher course in combat magic. The activity made the hours pass faster, but the downtime seemed to stretch on forever. She was both itching to go, and ready to bolt for home at a moments notice. Princess Celestia had raised some good points, but so had Spring Breeze back home.

She was still unsure if she was the pony for the job. Moments of confidence were scattered; every time she executed a spell perfectly, or displayed superior physical skill at something, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd be able to pull this off. Every time she goofed up, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this would not end well, and it would probably be better to just go home and stop wasting everyponies time.

It was the emotional roller coaster that was the most tiring. She hardly slept at all the night of the new moon, and was on edge when she gathered with the others in a back courtyard of the palace. No one came to see them off; all goodbyes were made the night before. They were to leave secretly, although Moonstruck didn't understand why, exactly. It wasn't like there were spies lurking around Canterlot. Or at least, she didn't think there were.

She was surprised to see Princess Luna was already wearing her illusion when she ambled wearily into the courtyard. The princess was a shorter, lighter colored pegasus version of herself and she'd altered her cutie mark to a trio of stars. Windwake looked terribly uncomfortable standing near her, even though he stood respectfully at attention.

"Mornin'." Moonstruck grunted. She focused her sleep deprived brain enough to summon up her illusion as well.

Windwake broke his stone faced expression to shake his head. "That is seriously trippy."

"Heh, get used to it." Moonstruck scowled back at her cutie mark. "Think I should do something about this too?"

Luna scowled as well. "You are not known outside of your country so you will likely not need to."

"Yeah, you're probably right." She yawned. "What about code names?"

"Hmm, that may be helpful."

"I can just call you Mooney." Windwake quipped.

"Works for me. Actually, we could call Luna that too." Moonstruck smirked.

Luna smiled faintly. "That we could." She stared up into the sky for a few moments. "You may call me Nightingale."

"Gale for short?" Moonstruck asked.

"I suppose, if the need arises." Luna shrugged. "We should depart, Sister has already raised the sun, and we have a long fly ahead of us."

They did not fly out of the castle; instead wandered back inside and worked their way into a tour group that was on its way out. From there, they made their way out into the city, and over to a landing field where common pegasus generally came and went.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't take the train at least part way." Moonstruck grumbled as they waited in line to take off.

"Because the closest we could get would be Griffonstone Station, and we are trying to avoid as many ponies as possible." Luna muttered.

Moonstruck wanted to argue that they weren't avoiding very many ponies at the moment, but decided against it. They made it through the que and out onto the field in a reasonable amount of time, ultimately taking off without any trouble. Luna took the lead, Windwake and Moonstruck settled into escort positions behind and to either side of her. Luna set a brisk pace, Moonstruck was dismayed to discover. She frequently found herself falling behind, despite drafting off of the elder alicorn's wake. It certainly made any conversation difficult - which seemed to be how Luna preferred it.

Hours stretched on, Equestria rolled gently by beneath them, and Luna occasionally swerved off course to avoid scheduled inclimate weather. Around noon, she reluctantly led them down to a grassy meadow for a break. Moonstruck had the distinct impression that the elder alicorn had intended to fly until nightfall, and was somewhat dissatisfied with her lackluster flying abilities.

"Your flying speed and endurance will have increased greatly by the time we get there." Luna noted, confirming Moonstrucks suspicions.

"Whoo, flying the long haul again so soon is really taking its' toll." Windwake chuckled, pulling a sandwich out of one of his saddle bags and plopping down in the grass. "Plus, I think I'm still sore from the flight in to Canterlot."

"I thought you said you'd all be okay..." Moonstruck eyed him suspiciously then took a big gulp of water from her canteen.

"Yeah, we were fine. Just sore. Flying that fast for that long is pretty hard though." Windwake said around a mouth full of dandelion and black bean patty sandwich.

Moonstruck magicked her own sandwich out of one of her saddlebags and continued to eye him suspiciously.

"I told you, I'm fine!" Windwake barked, scowling back.

"Should you even be here? It's been less than a week since you and the others made a three day trip pretty much overnight." Moonstruck said flatly.

"YES. Sheesh! I know my limits, Mooney, and I haven't even begun to hit them yet." Windwake snarled.

"You have a bad habit of pushing yourself too hard, you know." Moonstruck noted.

"This coming from someone who never pushes herself enough!" Windwake snapped.

Moonstruck sputtered. "I push myself precisely as much as I need to! No more, no less!"

Luna pensively ate her sandwich, watched them bicker with eyebrows upraised and eyes half lidded. She was mildly amazed that they somehow managed to eat their lunches in a fairly timely manner in the midst of their argument.

"We must keep moving." She said firmly once the others had eaten, and had an extra fifteen minutes to digest a little. "We need to travel as far as we can every day to reach the Broken Lands by spring."

"Um, isn't it spring now?" Moonstruck scowled as she tried to fit everything back into her saddle bags.

"Here, yes. But in the northern lands winter still holds sway, and the weather is not regulated." Luna inclined her head to the north. "At this pace, we should arrive after the worst of the storms have passed."

"Gotcha." Moonstruck nodded.

They cleaned up their impromptu picnic, then took to the air once again; Windwake in the lead this time to give Luna a break. Moonstruck dreaded her turn in the lead but did her best not to think about it. Instead, she stared down at the land, and oddball low cloud beneath them; taking note of their route. She knew she wouldn't be by herself when she came back (if she came back), but she liked knowing the way all the same.

They stopped again at sunset. They would not, Moonstruck was glad to discover, fly through the night. Dinner conversation was light and pleasant, although they did not sing songs or tell ghost stories, which is what usually happened when Moonstruck and her friends went camping. Windwake was typically the teller of scary stories, but he was either maintaining his professionalism in the presence of Princess Luna, or too tired to cook up a good one. Moonstruck knew the former was a contributing factor, but the latter was the main culprit. She was exhausted herself, so she didn't bring it up.

Unlike the previous two nights, sleep was a very easy state to attain. Waking up was the hard part. Stiff part, more accurately. She had suspected she'd be sore in the morning after a full day of flying, she hadn't expected to be nearly immobile. She managed to get out of bed, but only enough to slide slowly into a painful, awkward sprawl.

"Hey, c'mon, breakfast is ready." Windwake mumbled as he poked his head into her tent. Moonstruck stared up at him, about ready to burst into tears. He stared blearily down at her.

"Um... having issues?"

"Maybe I'm in worse shape than I thought..." Moonstruck grimaced, gathered up all of her strength (and legs), and climbed shakily to her hooves, then limped sorely past the bemused pegasus.

"Terrible shape, if your legs are sore too!" He quipped.

"Hey, it takes a lot of muscle to keep a streamlined shape for that long!" Moonstruck grunted.

"I suppose." He smirked, and ambled after her.

Luna frowned at her as she limped into view. "You will be able to fly, I hope?"

"Yeah, yeah, just gimme a few minutes to stretch." Moonstruck grunted. She took a sip of water, then walked in circles for a few minutes, the stiffness in her muscles giving way slowly, and reluctantly. Breakfast was a tedious affair, then she broke down and went for a quick jog around the campsite. Luna was looking rather irate by the time Moonstruck felt she was limber enough to take wing without killing herself.

The elder alicorn wasted no time in getting aloft, taking the lead again, and setting a brisk pace. Moonstruck lagged behind more so than yesterday, but not terribly far back. She almost wished they'd speed up so that she could fall so far behind that she might as well just go home. Windwake was no more forgiving when he took the lead later in the day.

hr

The morning of the fourth day they ran into a snag. When Moonstruck emerged wearily from her tent - before the others, for once - she could not help but notice that it was overcast, and that the clouds were moving along at a concerning speed. It smelled of rain. She blinked a few times, then pulled a small booklet out of one of her bags. It had the weather schedule for the next month for all of Equestria. Unless they were off course, there wasn't a storm scheduled for this area today. She scowled and checked the dates for the previous few days; occasionally the pegasus ponies missed a storm, and would re-schedule it last minute. Her scowl deepened as she didn't see any mention of rain for at least two weeks prior.

"This is unexpected." Luna murmured as she exited her tent, looking just about ready to fly.

Moonstruck shrugged and magicked the booklet over so that Luna could inspect it herself. The elder alicorn scowled as well. The wind picked up at their altitude just then, rustling manes and tents, and kicking up leaves. Windwake poked his head out of his tent and stared blankly up at the sky.

"You two eat and break camp, I will go and find out what is going on." Luna crouched, fanned her wings, then sprang lightly into the air.

Moonstruck and Windwake did just that, and were about done packing everything but Lunas breakfast into their saddle bags by the time the elder alicorn landed in an irate huff.

"It seems a storm system grew out of control, and it's too big for the local weather ponies to disperse, so they have herded it here to rain itself out." She grunted, sitting down grumpily. She used her telekenisis to pick up her breakfast and float it to her.

"Ugh, I hate when that happens." Windwake wrinkled his nose. "One time the weather pony interns cooked up a hurricane by accident, and it took every pegasus in the queendom to move it over an unpopulated area."

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Moonstruck screwed her face up into a scowl. "I think we only managed to wrestle it over the foothills outside Trot City. Still downed a few trees all over the place though."

"And knocked over some old barns." Windwake added.

"You helped?" Luna lifted a brow and inclined her snout towards Moonstruck.

"Of course. I do use my wings sometimes." Moonstruck snorted, then she scowled. "That was a while ago though."

"So, what's the plan?" Windwake asked, eyeing the clouds. "The wind isn't strong enough to pose a problem yet, if we fly at a lower altitude."

"The weather ponies plan to start the storm in an hour, otherwise it may gain strength on its own and swing back towards the village." Luna said, daintily wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"We will fly as far as we can in that time, then continue on hoof."

"In the rain?" Moonstruck groaned. She didn't typically mind rain, considering it rained nine months of the year in Trot, but she was still sore. Rain, stiff muscles and sore joints did not mix.

"Yes. The storm is simply too large to fly around, and too dangerous to try to pass through to fly above it." Luna said flatly. "We also cannot remain here and simply wait it out." She scowled at Moonstruck darkly.

Moonstruck huffed and looked away, pulled her ears back slightly. "Guess it isn't just going to be a cloud burst, then."

Luna rolled her eyes, then finished her meal. They took off a few minutes later, flying at a brutal pace. Moonstruck lagged behind, huffing and puffing and seriously considering just teleporting to keep pace. Although teleporting while in motion (mid-air, to boot), was difficult, she might be able to do it in short jumps. Line of sight wasn't a problem, it was a matter of math. Without an easy visual reference, she'd have to set up a virtual 3D grid, calculate out coordinates, and adjust those coordinates while she was flying and... it was really too much trouble. And math. Lots of math. She knew of a trick that would more or less allow her to cheat by giving herself a pair of visual reference points to teleport to and from, but it really only worked if she started out from a walk, or a leisurely trot - not flying at the equivalent of a gallop. She could - she supposed - use Windwake as a sort of anchor point; maybe attach a glowing spark a short ways behind him so that she just had to keep track of her own location. But if he had to stop suddenly, or changed direction abruptly, it could lead to a mid-air crash, or possibly worse. It generally wasn't recommended to teleport into a space something was already occupying - much less _someone_.

Thankfully the winds started to pick up about a half an hour into their race against the storm, which forced the three of them to slow and close in to a tighter formation. Shortly after that, the winds were too unpredictable to kite along, so they landed early.

They did not bother with their rain gear - the wind was so strong that it made it pointless unless they had a full suit - and none of them had thought to bring something more form fitting that would have offered a decent amount of protection. After a few minutes in the howling wind and driving rain, Moonstruck was quite convinced that they should have waited the storm out. She suspected that Luna and Windwake were thinking the same thing, although neither seemed willing to admit it. Moonstruck quietly wondered how long it would take for one of them to suggest finding shelter to wait out the rest of the storm.

For hours they slogged along the muddy roadway, passing the occasional campsite where other travelers had done the sensible thing and stopped when the weather turned ugly. Moonstruck would sigh dramatically and eye the camps enviously whenever they passed. If the others heard her, they didn't comment. She was fairly certain they couldn't hear her over the storm.

Lightning flashed across the sky above them, thunder hot on its heels. The trio froze, staring upwards in trepidation, fur and manes standing on end. She could practically taste the electricity in the air. Lightening couldn't cause serious harm to a pegasus (and by extension, an alicorn), but it was still far from a pleasant experience to be struck by it.

"Is it just me, or was that too close!?" Moonstruck shouted over the din of the storm.

"I vote for taking cover!" Windwake barked.

Luna scowled, but nodded. They dashed along the winding road, down to a broad open meadow away from the tallest trees, and hopefully away from things that might attract lightning. Choosing a natural low spot in the knee-high grass, Moonstruck reared up on her hind legs, spun in a complete circle to make sure they were alone in the meadow, then used her telekenisis to hastily unpack her tent and set it up. Luna gave her a sharp look, but darted inside as lightning struck a tree in the near distance.

Once they were all in the tent; Moonstruck closed the front flap, then sat down. They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the storm, and watching water drip from their forelocks.

"Guess we should have - "

"Don't." Luna warned, throwing her a sharp look.

"What?" Moonstruck scowled. "It's only sensible to wait out a violent storm."

"I wouldn't have a problem with it, if we weren't behind schedule two days." Luna said curtly. "I am aware that you are not in peak physical condition, but you're slowing us down more than anticipated."

Moonstruck pulled her ears back as Windwake glanced back and forth between the two in trepidation. She'd been wondering when this would happen.

"I'm flying as fast as I can." She said as calmly as she could.

"I know." Luna growled, shifting her gaze to the side and letting out an irate sigh. "Perhaps we should have delayed our departure from Canterlot so that you could better prepare yourself for the journey."

"Probably would have been better if I didn't go at all." Moonstruck muttered under her breath.

* * *

The storm finally tapered off shortly before sunset, but the three of them were too tired to attempt to fly any further that day. Morning brought cheery sunshine and scattered clouds, allowing them to hurry on their way. Moonstruck put more effort into keeping up with the others, but she was no better at it than the day before. In fact, she was worse - a chilly night and already sore muscles were sapping her strength.

Two more days of flying took them past Manehattan (the glow of which Moonstruck could see on the early evening horizon), and up along the eastern coast, past the eastern spar of the Crystal Mountains, and across the Trottingham Straight. From there they skirted the southern edge of the BugBear Mountains, then strayed into griffon territory for a day and a half as they passed through a great rift valley in the mountains that ran from the frozen north clear down past Griffonstone. The landscape below turned from verdant forest, to chaparral until finally empty, gently rolling plains of lush green grass. They stopped for the night a days flight from Stirrup Springs and quickly set up camp as an entirely unscheduled storm rolled in from the Broken Mountains to the north.

"I hadn't expected the magical influence to reach this far." Luna mused as they ate their dinner beneath a tarp they'd stretched between the tents. The wind was not so strong to blow the tarp away, but it was raining steadily. "The weather here is entirely unpredictable."

"Does Stirrup Springs have weather ponies?" Windwake asked.

"Only a pair of pegasus to keep the worst of the storms from hitting the town itself, and occasionally to whip up small rain clouds for their crops." Luna shook her head. "There is not much they can do, I am afraid."

"So... does that mean there's less magic here, or more?" Moonstruck asked.

Luna blinked a few times then eyed her curiously. "I don't understand the question."

"Well..." Moonstruck sat up a little straighter. "I was thinking about the places that seem to, well, take care of themselves. Like the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. It doesn't NEED ponies to manage it, everything happens on its own. So that would indicate that there's either an excess of magic there, or an absence of it." She waved a hoof around vaguely.

"Most animals can get along without magic, or any help from ponies, so one would assume that there are entire ecosystems that can function without it."

Luna's expression was unreadable. "Magic works normally in the Everfree Forest. In fact, there are many magical creatures found only in those woods."

"Hmm."

"We do not know how it functions on its own." Luna added. "Admittedly few have studied the phenomenon."

"Guess I'll get to find out." Moonstruck muttered, staring past Lunas shoulder to the mountains towering in the near distance. She knew they were over a days flight away, but they seemed incredibly close, and imposing; a nearly solid wall of rock jutting thousands of feet above the gently rolling steppes. She knew it probably wasn't solid at all, that it was probably just a trick of the light, but it looked more like a wall than a range of mountains.

"I wonder if magic works properly there."

"This we do not know. Conditions are harsh both physically and thaumically in the mountains." Luna said, then took a sip of tea. "Pegasus ponies cannot navigate the air currents at any altitude; earth ponies cannot climb the mountains for there are no passes that they can access, and unicorn ponies magic is unreliable. Additionally everyone is sent in circles, as if the mountains themselves are constantly changing."

She paused again, wrinkling her nose. "Curiously, many a pony has gotten lost entering the mountains, but upon deciding to turn back, they are able to return to the plains with little difficulty."

"Wait, if it's that difficult, why are you even trying to get in? And why send Moonstruck, of all ponies?" Windwake asked, scowling.

"I believe that is where you're supposed to say 'no offense'." Moonstruck said daintily into her tea cup.

"Face it Mooney, you're not the hardcore outdoorsy type." Windwake gestured to the distant mountains, "this sounds like a job for a team of survivalists."

"Most of what we know is because such specialists have done their best to cross the mountains." Luna said. "And we are sending Princess Moonstruck because, as an alicorn, she has more options to her than a pegasus, unicorn or earth pony alone. Additionally..." she worked her jaw around a little, "my sister feels she is sufficiently clever to come up with novel and effective solutions to the many problems she will face."

Windwake let out a contemplative grunt as Moonstruck absorbed all of that. Luna didn't seem convinced, but Celestia felt she was _sufficiently clever_?

"I suppose she is that." Windwake agreed before Moonstruck could say anything. "If there's a way to do something with little to no effort, Mooney will figure it out."

It was Lunas turn to grunt contemplatively, as Moonstruck screwed her face up into a scowl.

"I suppose that is rather clever," Luna agreed. "Work smarter, not harder. That my serve her well in the mountains, provided she can remain motivated."

"Yep."

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not by all of this." Moonstruck muttered.

Windwake simply reached over with a wing and patted her on the top of the head.


	6. Chapter 5

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

There was a fine layer of frost at daybreak, and a thick blanket of fog. It was too dangerous to fly just yet, so they set off on hoof, taking to a nearby road at a brisk trot. The fog didn't lift for some hours, but they were able to cover enough ground anyway to make it to Stirrup Springs by nightfall. It was the first village Moonstruck had gotten to land in on their entire journey, she was surprised how much of a thrill it was to realize she'd be sleeping in a real bed, and eating hot food for a few nights while they made final preparations for her departure.

They landed just before sunset to no fanfare, although there were more than a few curious onlookers; it seemed Stirrup Springs didn't receive many visitors. Moonstruck was somewhat acquainted with arriving in tiny outpost towns, so she adopted her most casual saunter, ignored the onlookers, and ambled towards the nearest inn. Or, tried to, Luna muttered that they needed to meet with the mayor at once, so town hall was to be their first destination. A long bath and dinner would have to wait.

It became clear, as they made their way along the largest (and practically only) road in town, that most of the curious onlookers were watching Luna and Windwake. Moonstruck smirked as the reason became clear.

"You ponies need to be more casual."

"Pardon?" Windwake glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Yeah, L- Nightingale there looks like she's strutting her stuff for a fashion show, and you look like you're marching in a parade."

The others looked down at their legs, then back at Moonstruck, then around at the various ponies watching them with expressions ranging from bored interest, to intense curiosity, to outright suspicion. They exchanged glances, then slowed down, moving far less purposefully. Of course, by this point the damage was done, and the sudden shift in demeanor was even more interesting to the watching ponies. Moonstruck rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself.

She'd long mastered the art of blending in - even when she wasn't wearing an illusion to hide her horn (and/or wings) - which she had never even thought of before this trip. Trot was so small that everyone knew her anyway, so they really didn't care if she wandered into town - which she did fairly often for a while. There'd been an article in a magazine documenting the best ice cream parlors of Trot, and she, Breezy and Patch had gone on an impromptu tour of the queendom to sample them all over the course of a summer.

She frowned slightly as she wondered what her friends were doing back home. Probably the same old stuff, just without her around to let them mooch from the castle kitchens or get them into VIP events. They hadn't made any arrangements for them to continue the charity poker matches, now that she thought about it. She wondered if they'd decided to do it anyway – Breezy and Patch were competent enough players to keep that up for quite a while - even without her celebrity gimmick.

"Ah, this should be it." Luna said, gesturing to a modestly sized, and brightly lit two story building - one of the few multi-level buildings in town. They trotted up the steps, and through the front door to see a bored looking secretary behind a worn desk.

She bolted upright when they walked in. "V-vistors! Ah! Welcome to Stirrup Springs! I have plenty of brochures here of the local attractions, including the historic Saddleback Inn, the haunted mineshaft, the apple orchards and - "

"That will not be necessary, we have an appointment with Mayor Tumbleweed." Luna said curtly, dipping her head slightly.

The secretary froze. "Oh, uh... well it's a little late in the day, the Mayor will be heading home soon..." she said as she rifled through the contents of her desk and glanced up at a calendar. "Actually, I am unaware of any out-of-towners meeting with the mayor - "

"I'm afraid we never set an exact date, just a timeframe, which we are nearly at the end of," Luna said, "just inform him that the party from Canterlot is here."

"Canterlot!?" The secretary looked up in surprise. At that moment, Luna let her illusion fall from her visage. She held her head up high and gave the secretary a haughty look. Moonstruck shrugged and dropped her illusion as well, but she merely shifted her weight to give one back leg a rest. Windwake did a double take then came to attention, flaring his wings dramatically.

"I-I-I... P-Princess Luna! And P-Princess... Um, I'm afraid I don't - forgive me but I have never -"

"It's fine, just go tell the mayor we're here." Moonstruck said, waving a hoof vaguely before Luna could do anything irritatingly formal. The elder alicorn threw her a sharp look but did not comment.

The secretary nodded then scurried out of the room and down a short hall. There was the sound of a door being flung open, then a brief, hushed, excited conversation. The secretary reappeared a few moments later in a clatter of hooves.

"R-right this way, your highnesses!"

She led them to the mayors office, bowed nervously, then left. Mayor Tumbleweed - an overweight middle aged stallion whom strongly resembled the secretary - stood behind his desk, gaping at them for a few moments before he shook himself and sat down.

"Oh my - forgive me, I half thought the missive I received from Canterlot was some sort of joke. I-it's an honor to have you all here!"

"Thank you." Luna dipped her head. "I trust you have been keeping an eye on the Broken Mountains as we requested."

"Indeed we have - and please sit! You must be weary from your journey! I'll have my niece put the kettle on for tea..." He scurried to the door to stage whisper a request for tea to his secretary/niece, as the alicorns made themselves comfortable. Windwake remained at attention near the door.

"We've always kept an eye on the mountains - nothing's ever come out of there before this, but that in itself is pretty unsettling. We've kept double watch of it since that poor pegasus was found, and the airship was spotted." The mayor said as he made his way back around to his desk.

"When we got your package we knew something serious could be up, so we've set up a few observation points as close to the foothills as we dare." He produced a small stack of folders from a desk drawer and slid them to the alicorns. Luna and Moonstruck each used their magic to pick up a folder and flip it open.

"Oh my."

"Yes?" Moonstruck peeked over the top of her chosen folder.

"I - forgive me, we only have one family of unicorns here, so magic is something of a spectacle." Tumbleweed laughed nervously.

"Ah."

He cleared his throat and lightly tapped a hoof on his desk. "Anyway, the foothills have been quiet as near as we can tell - and unfortunately it is difficult to tell it's so confusing in those parts - but there's been some activity over the crest of the mountains, which is visible from here with telescopes. Mostly the zeppelin coming and going."

Luna and Moonstruck nodded absently, their noses buried in their respective dossiers, eyes scouring over various photo's of the airship in question. Moonstruck couldn't help but notice that there was an odd sort of distortion to the photo's, as if the airship was passing in front of a warped mirror, or behind something multifaceted.

"These photo's are - "

"Yes, we know they're distorted. That is a strange effect of the mountains, I'm afraid." Mayor Tumbleweed frowned. "There was an incident where the airship was clearly visible for several hours, but we were unable to spot it at all from the foothills - even though the view of the peaks it was floating near was at such an angle that the airship should have been clearly visible."

"This is not entirely unexpected." Luna grumbled, flipping through another folder. "The mountains can distort both time and space, it is entirely possible that you were actually seeing several reflections of the airship over several days. Or hours."

Moonstruck blinked a few times then pulled all of the photo's from her folder out to float them in such a way that she could look at them all at once. Then she did the same for photo's from another folder, then another. Luna added her own stash, and soon the room was filled with floating photographs, which the alicorns and the mayor walked among, examining each one carefully.

"This is all the same thing." Moonstruck said after a few minutes.

"The airship, yes." Tumbleweed said slowly, "As near as we can tell there's only the one."

"No no, sorry, I mean the same incident." Moonstruck highlighted a dozen of the photo's by making them glow blue. "See these, the time stamp says they're all from different days, but they're all of the same moment."

"These are the same as well," Luna said, highlighting a second set in bright green, "just a different moment."

"When was the most recent photo taken?" Moonstruck asked.

"Two weeks ago Tuesday." The mayor said, "It, uh... is that one." He pointed to a photo they hadn't highlighted. "We haven't seen the airship since."

Moonstruck and Luna exchanged glances, then started rapidly sorting through the photographs. Once sorted, they rearranged them them in the room, sending the photos in a dizzying dance to find their places, occasionally discussing which one came in what order. After a few minutes, they had arranged the pictures in chronological order - not in the order in which they were taken, but in the order that the incident actually occurred, creating a very clear time line.

"Holy oats..." Windwake muttered, breaking his stoic silence as the alicorns stood back to inspect their work. "It's like a comic book or - no a whatchamacallit for a movie."

"Storyboard." Moonstruck said absently, flicking her eyes over the line of action. The airship appeared over the crest of the mountains, heading towards town, pivots, appears to fire something at an unseen object, loiters in the area for a short while, then turns and leaves. Each action had a dozen photo's, all taken on different dates, from different angles, with varying levels of distortion, all of which reminded her of images being reflected in mirrors... many mirrors, some of which were warped or broken.

"These are echo's." Luna said softly.

"Yeah. I bet they're firing at Sarah here." Moonstruck highlighted the block of photo's in question. "And they loose her over the crest of the mountains - which they can't cross, so they hang around for a while."

"Yes. But they ultimately have to turn back." Luna nodded, highlighting another block of photo's.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow." Tumbleweed said meekly.

"Basically, what you've been seeing the past few weeks have been the same incident being replayed over and over." Moonstruck said matter-of-factly.

"Er..."

"As I said, the mountains displace time and space. The actual incident..." Luna furrowed her brow, "... to be honest, we do not know when the incident occurred in the mountains themselves, however, for the outside world, young Sarah was found roughly a month and a half ago. What you have been seeing have been echo's of the incident bouncing around all of the distorted magic of the Broken Mountains."

"I see..." The mayor said "sort of like when you use a bunch of mirrors to reflect sunlight down into a mineshaft?"

"Yes, precisely, but if the time it takes for the light to bounce is varied, and sporadic." Luna nodded.

"And sometimes it doesn't show up at all, even though it's sunny out." Moonstruck added.

"I... think I see." The mayor furrowed his brow. "So... what does that mean for us?"

"I do not know yet." Luna frowned. "It does clearly illustrate how difficult these mountains will be to pass, however. If something that only took a brief amount of time is still essentially happening in them..."

Moonstruck grimaced. "Oh goodie."

"Ah, yes, you're the one who's going to try to cross the mountains." Tumbleweed chuckled nervously. "Princess Moonstruck, is it?"

"Yep. All the way from the Queendom of Trot; running a fools errand for Princess Celestia and the good of ponykind." Moonstruck let loose an off kilter grin.

The mayor burst out laughing, then quickly controlled himself. "Sorry."

"No, no! That was the reaction I was going for!" Moonstruck chuckled.

The secretary appeared with the tea then, and nearly tripped over herself when she saw all of the floating photographs. Luna and Moonstruck quickly discerned that the casual display of magic was a bit much for the locals, then set about organizing the photo's and storing them in order in various folders.

"Do you have other copies of these photographs?" Luna asked as Moonstruck sipped her tea, and jotted down numbers on the backs of a batch of photo's.

"We have the negatives."

"Good, I would like to send these to Canterlot first thing in the morning."

"Er, the mail coach won't be here for another day, I'm afraid, but you may be able to talk a pegasus into flying down to Prariedog Junction to send it from there."

"How long will that take?"

The mayor scrunched his snout up and stared into space for a few moments. "The weather ponies don't think the fog will be so thick tomorrow morning, so a pony could get outta here by 9am, thereabouts. It takes about three hours to get to Prariedog Junction on a good day."

Luna scowled but nodded. "It will do. I suppose it will take me a little time to put my report together."

Moonstruck glanced over. "Do I have to send one too?"

"No. You need only report in when you get back."

"If I get back." Moonstruck muttered.

* * *

They finished up their business at the mayors office, then donned their illusions and set off for their inn. Or, _the_ inn, rather. There was only one. And it had more than a few rooms available. They spoke little over dinner, then retreated to their respective rooms. Moonstruck happily spent a good long time soaking in the modest claw-foot bath tub in her rooms _en suite_ bathroom, and was mildly disgusted by the color of the water when she finally climbed out.

She was surprised to wake well after sun-up the next day; she'd half expected Windwake to wake her up at dawn to keep her on a travelers schedule. It was possible that he'd tried, but being back in a real bed might have reactivated her ability to sleep through a hurricane. She noticed a note near her door as she slid out of bed. Yawning, she shuffled over to read it where it rested.

 _Princess Luna says we can take a day off to rest before we start runnin' around to get your gear in order. Don't go outside without your disguise, and tell no one of the mission. In fact, don't even discuss it with us in public. If you read this before noon, I'll be over visiting the weather ponies. After that, I dunno._

 _\- Windwake_

Moonstruck blinked a few times, threw a glance up at the clock, then gave her bed a long appraising stare. She shifted her gaze to the cheery sunlight filtering past the heavy curtains and scowled. She was torn; on the one hoof, these next few days were likely to be the last of civilization for a while and she'd be wise to take advantage of it; sleep, sample the local cuisine, have her mane and tail cut, maybe get her hooves done. On the other hoof, these next few days were likely to be the last of civilization for a while, and she'd be wise not to get used to it.

"Choices, choices," she muttered, deciding that she was hungry enough to stay awake for the time being. She ran a brush through her perpetually messy mane and tail, summoned up her illusion, threw a few bits into her pouch, then wandered out of her room in search of breakfast. It was not terribly late in the morning so this was not difficult. Soon she found herself on the dusty streets of Stirrup Springs, wandering aimlessly, occasionally ducking into curious looking shops. There weren't many; a few antiques shops and a couple of used book stores, and a cafe that specialized in some local cuisine that didn't sound particularly appealing to her.

Eventually she wandered into a museum, where she spent a bland thirty minutes learning about the history of Stirrup Springs. Apparently it started as a crystal mining town, but the vein of crystals from the Broken Mountains are few and scattered, and the bulk of the easily accessible deposits were mined out over a hundred years ago. What was left were of exceptional quality, but of so little quantity that Moonstruck was surprised anyone even bothered to search for them at all anymore - especially since the mayor mentioned that there was only one family of unicorns living in town. Unicorns generally had an easier time finding crystals, and extracting them from the rock, for that matter. She wondered if they were the last unicorn family to leave; all of the others likely left when the mines dried up long ago.

She was on her way out of the main exhibit, heading towards a geological survey, when she happened to read a snippet of a placard out of the corner of her eye. She paused, mid step and turned her head to read it carefully.

 _After the main mines close to town failed to turn up viable crystals, prospectors ventured into the foothills where they achieved minor success; establishing three deep mines that turned out crystals of exceptional quality. Alas, the mines were only active for ten years, as the strange, magical disturbance that has kept ponies from entering the Broken Mountains for the last 900 years began to effect the outer foothills as well. The magic seeped into the deepest shafts first, and slowly worked its way up and out. The last outpost was abandoned after an especially violent thunderstorm, and no pony has been able to approach it since. In fact, it can no longer be located at all, however it is visible via high powered telescope, such as the one we have on the roof._

Moonstruck stared at the large, detailed map next to the placard and noted the location of the last outpost. It was just twenty five miles from here, atop a tallish hill. She had been under the impression that aside from a few determined cartographers, and some foolhardy adventurers, nopony had set hoof in the foothills since the cataclysm. But if this was to be believed, ponies had been able to wander in a short ways until a century ago. They'd even been able to stick around long enough to mine. At least, until the magical distortion started kicking them out.

She stared into space for a few moments, her mind reeling. Then she hurried over to the geological history of the region. Everything matched up with what Princess Celestia had told her except for one, tiny detail: the magical field hadn't always extended as far outside the mountains as it did now. In fact, much of the foothills had been explored to varying degrees. None of the maps were of use now, as things were constantly changing, but at one point, ponies had even considered starting a settlement out there.

The very last exhibit was of the local weather; and it was as curious as the geological information. It seemed that the weather here had always been somewhat unpredictable, but it wasn't until the magical distortion reached further from the mountains that it became nigh uncontrollable.

Moonstruck made her way up to the roof, glad to see that there was indeed a high powered telescope; it was not currently being used, and it only cost a bit for a couple of minutes of long range sight seeing. She read over the various landmarks, and how to find them, popped a coin in the coin slot on the side of the telescope, and reared up on her hind legs to peer inside. She pivoted the telescope to point north west, fiddled with the focus, and pressed her lips into a thin line as the old outpost came into view. It was a small tower, like a windmill but without the, well, windmill.

It didn't look like it had sat empty for a hundred years; it looked absolutely pristine, she could even see well pruned rose bushes around the outside of the tower. Those should be overgrown at the very least. She wondered if she'd see somepony out there, if she watched long enough. If the magic was distorting time the way she and Luna thought it was, it was a distinct possibility. One would assume somepony would have noticed something like that though. She pivoted the telescope again to take a look at some of the more interesting rock formations, up to the peaks, then back to the outpost. Still nopony over there. Everything abruptly went black.

Her time was up. She blinked a few times and pulled her head back, tempted to shove another coin in there and just watch the outpost for a while to see if anything interesting happened. She shook her head and dropped back down to all fours. There was no telling what moment in time she was looking at over there; it could be stuck on a time shortly after the outpost was abandoned for all she knew. Instead, she went back down stairs. She bought a book from the gift shop that went into the more ancient history of the region in greater detail. It was not a thick book - which was both good and bad. Good because she had little time to read it, bad because there was so little information.

"Oh, you're up!"

Moonstruck whipped her head around as Windwake stopped a short distance away.

"Figured you'd still be asleep."

"I got hungry." She shrugged, nearly dropping her book which was tucked under one wing. "Been playing tourist a bit."

"Me too. The haunted mine's kinda cool." Windwake said, joining her on the boardwalk. They started in the general direction of the inn."And the weather ponies are pretty stressed. They can't do much about the weather, but they still try."

"Ended up checking out some of the local history." Moonstruck said, then filled him in on what she'd learned. She left out much of her speculation; secrecy aside, Windwake was probably thinking the same things she was.

"That's fascinating." Windwake said, then ducked his head closer to hers. "Um, we're not supposed to..."

"It's all in the museum, it isn't exactly a secret." She whispered back, rolling her eyes.

"Er... right."

* * *

Much of the day was spent hunting around for more juicy bits of history that Princess Celestia either neglected to mention, or simply didn't know about; but they didn't turn up anything further. The book Moonstruck bought seemed to have the most information, but it mostly discussed the mines in the foothills, and the various outposts in more detail, only mentioning the strange magic at play in passing, as if it wasn't of any particular importance. In fact, it seemed the townsponies seemed entirely unaware that their town was in danger of being swallowed up by the mountains influence!

It made her wonder if the lone family of unicorns was aware of the situation; she'd been able to feel the magical disturbance since they'd arrived - surely the local unicorns had. Well, unless they were completely used to it and simply considered it part of the normal magical background noise. She wished she could ask them about it, but she hadn't seen any unicorns all day, and it would be an awkward question even if she did bump into one, seeing as how she was disguised as a pegasus at the moment.

Princess Luna did not return until shortly before dinner, and seemed in a rather foul mood. Moonstruck waited until tummies were full, and blood sugar levels were restored to unload everything she'd dug up.

"I'm surprised you did all of this research today." Luna grunted after flipping through the book Moonstruck had bought, and a few pamphlets that she and Windwake had collected over the course of the day. They were camped out in Lunas room for the time being; sipping tea, and collecting thoughts.

Moonstruck shrugged. "I got bored and happened to wander into the museum. Plus, there just isn't that much. Stirrup Springs is kinda boring." She wrinkled her nose.

"The weather ponies say that it's been more and more difficult to manage the weather." Windwake added. "Which seems to confirm Mooney's findings."

"I wonder if we could calculate the speed of the expansion of the magic field." Luna said vaguely, flipping back through the pages that contained the accounts of the final days of the foothill crystal mines. "If ponies were able to explore almost up to the tall cliffs that bar entrance to the rest of the range for so long..."

"It seems like the region was relatively stable until they started mining out there." Moonstruck noted.

"It does." Luna agreed. "Perhaps the crystal deposits were acting as a sort of dam; remove the crystals, and the broken magic leaks out." She closed the book and scowled. "I never knew anything about this, I wonder if sister did."

"Was wondering that myself, earlier." Moonstruck drawled casually, gauging Lunas reaction carefully.

"I see no reason for her to withhold such information." Luna said firmly, still scowling. "But I will ask her in The Dreaming tonight."

"The Dreaming?" Windwake furrowed his brow.

"Oh yeah, forgot you could do that." Moonstruck grunted unhelpfully.

"I can walk through the dreams of all ponies, if I so choose." Luna said. "Though I usually only seek out those having nightmares and help to soothe them, and guide them to happier visions."

"Oh." Windwake's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "That's. Cool. You haven't uh - ?"

"Your dreams are safe, Captain Windwake." Luna smiled wryly.

He grinned nervously.

"Still having that recurring dream about the carrot that keeps bouncing around in a giant jar of peanut butter?" Moonstruck asked coolly. "'cause I'm pretty sure we all figured out what that means..."

"N-no!" Windwake sputtered, blushing darkly. "I haven't had that dream in years!"

"Oh, it must be the one with the - mrph"

"So! Princess Luna! How was your day!?" Windwake squeaked as he clamped a hoof over Moonstruck's mouth. She snickered and batted his hoof away.

Luna chuckled, and shook her head. "Stressful. I ended up having to fly to Prariedog Junction myself. It seems the local courier service does not make unscheduled trips unless it has more than three items to deliver."

She sighed. "The owners did not grow up here, and do not like the unpredictable weather, so they limit their flying time as much as possible."

"You couldn't find anyone local to deliver it?"

"No." Luna scowled. "The locals seem to be content to wait for the mail coach."

"That's small towners for ya," Moonstruck shrugged.

Something hit the window just then; a small something. Several more small somethings hit it shortly after that and continued to do so. The trio looked up as the rain started to come down harder.

"Dang, there wasn't a cloud in sight all day." Windwake murmured as thunder rumbled in the distance. "Not even over the mountains."


	7. Chapter 6

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Moonstruck jerked awake as someone knocked softly on her door. She sat up and stared at the wall for a few moments, awareness of her surroundings seeping into her sluggish brain. It was early; there was a cold draft sneaking in from behind the curtains, it was still raining, and she could remember dreaming, but couldn't remember what of.

"Mooney? You awake?"

She shook her head. "Ye-yeah. I'll be out in a few."

"Good. Change of plans, breakfast meeting at the Mayors office."

Moonstruck groaned and slid out of bed. She shuffled into the small bathroom to splash her face off, brush her teeth, and attempt to run a comb through her mane and tail to work out the worst of the tangles. Once she was more or less presentable, she summoned up her illusion, pulled her saddlebags on, then a light cloak, then opened her door. Windwake was waiting for her in the hall, already in his rain gear.

"Mornin'," he grunted. "Nightingale is already there."

Moonstruck grunted, then yawned and followed the pegasus stallion down the hall. "So, what kind of plan changes are we talking?"

"Er... you'll see when we get outside."

Moonstrucks eyebrows wandered up under her forelock as she glanced out the hall window. Aside from the part where it was raining, she couldn't see anything particularly scandalous in that direction.

It became clear once they were out in the street, with a grand view of the mountains. Although it was raining steadily, the ceiling was high, high enough to see even the tallest peaks... and the weird, shifting lights that danced over the highest glaciers. Occasionally the rainbow corona would arch out and downwards to brush the foothills, only to crash against some unseen object, then recede like the ocean meeting the shore.

"Pretty." Moonstruck grunted. She had no idea if this was good or bad.

They trotted through the muddy streets, the only sound that of the rain, and their hooves squishing through mud, or clomping across the occasional boardwalk. Aside from some forlorn looking weather ponies who fluttered damply overhead occasionally, the town was deserted. Rain, Moonstruck knew, wasn't a problem; the strange lights over the mountains was keeping ponies indoors. She couldn't blame them.

They were muddy half way up their legs by the time they reached the mayors offices, and had to rinse off with a garden hose before they could go inside. Once the front door was closed, and they were out of sight of the hiding townsponies, Moonstruck used her magic to dry them off. No one came to greet them, so they went ahead and trotted back to the office. The mayor and Princess Luna were standing at the window; they turned as the pair entered the room.

"We are moving up the time table." Luna said. "You leave as soon as we can gather your gear."

Moonstruck grimaced. "Was afraid of that."

"The magic storm over the mountains and the sudden rainstorm are more than likely linked; we cannot waste time. If the magical field is expanding, we need to know what's happening over there as soon as possible." Luna sighed.

"You know, the funny thing is, we're in the middle of a drought, so the rain isn't unwelcome." Tumbleweed chuckled. "Provided it doesn't flood of course."

"You didn't build on a flood plain did you?" Windwake asked wryly.

"Er... we did, but it's one of those thousand year flood things. Meaning it doesn't happen often. And... well, the river doesn't run the way it used to so we don't really know." The mayor mused. "Anyway, I've got Sagebrush out rounding up some ponies to help get your gear in order faster."

"Sagebrush?" Moonstruck asked.

"My niece."

"Right, right." Moonstruck scowled. "So, wait, my mission now is to poke around in the Broken Lands - if I can get in at all - and maybe figure out what's up with the magical disturbance?"

Luna pressed her lips into a thin line. "Yes. If it's at all possible. Magic storms are not unheard of but this does not seem to be a coincidence."

"Oh goodie." Moonstruck sighed. "Well, at least I got to sleep in for one morning, and sleep in an actual bed for two nights."

The mayor chuckled as Luna rolled her eyes. Lightning flashed nearby, thunder hot on its heels. Moonstruck craned her neck to look outside, and noticed another bolt of lighting out over the foothills; it seemed normal enough, no strange waves of electricity or rainbows or anything. She wondered if the storm really stretched over there, or if that bolt of lightning was from eons ago.

"So, should we go get Mooney's gear, or is it coming to us?" Windwake asked.

"It's being delivered. Sagebrush can get everyone hoppin', you'll probably be able to leave by this afternoon, weather permitting." Tumbleweed nodded.

"I think I'll go see if I can help the weather ponies." Windwake said. "Maybe with three of us we can create a lull in the storm or something."

"Yeah, good idea." Moonstruck nodded. He left; the door creaked as it swung shut behind him.

"So... any final briefings? Anything useful from Princess Celestia?"

"I am afraid not." Luna shook her head. "And she did not know of the exact original location of the disturbance, nor that it had expanded. Alicorns generally avoid this area."

She grimaced, then lifted her head. "Oh dear, I wonder if I'm too close…"

"Eh?" The mayor asked, furrowing his brow.

"One of the reasons Sister chose Princess Moonstruck to embark on this quest is that she is too young for the magical barrier to recognize." Luna gestured to the distant mountains. "I may be close enough to the disturbance to, well, disturb it."

Moonstruck whistled as the mayor swallowed hard.

"Well, there's an easy way to test it out. How are you at long distance teleportation?" Moonstruck asked. "I can only do it if there's nodestones involved."

Luna blinked a few times. "I think I can manage to teleport back to where we last camped. Give me ten minutes."

She stepped into the center of the room, lowered her head, and closed her eyes. After a few tense moments of magical build-up, she vanished in a flash of light.

"Wow." Mayor Tumbleweed gasped. Then, after a short pause, "what are we waiting for?"

"To see if the magic storm lets up or something." Moonstruck shrugged. "Can we access the roof?"

"Yes! Yes, right this way." He led her out of the office to the back stairs, up to the second story, then to a hidden staircase that went up to the roof.

"It's kind of a long shot." Moonstruck mused as she pulled her hood up and stepped up onto the roof. "I mean, Princess Luna wasn't even here most of the day yesterday. She had to fly those packages to Prariedog Junction herself."

"Oh dear. Well, Prariedog Junction is only a little further from the foothills than we are - just further east."

"Ah, so it wouldn't matter." Moonstruck nodded slightly. It was still raining steadily, but there seemed to be fewer unnatural looking rainbows over the hills.

"Do you think ten minutes will be long enough to tell?" Tumbleweed asked.

"I dunno. Actually, I figure we'll be able to tell for sure when she teleports back." She nodded towards the foothills.

"Right."

Moonstruck shifted her weight off of one hind leg and let her eyes slide half shut. It was too dang early for this sort of thing, she hadn't even had breakfast yet. She made a mental note to locate a pastry and some coffee once they were done conducting their experiment. After a couple of minutes of watching the hypnotic waves of swirling rainbows, she blinked and cast her eyes downwards to the empty streets below.

 _Nearly_ empty streets, she corrected herself. Somepony was standing in the middle of the main road towards the edge of town, also watching the storm. Moonstruck opened her eyes fully when the wind whipped up and blew the ponies hood back, revealing a horn.

"Well it's a bout time one of you showed up." She muttered.

"Pardon?" The mayor asked.

"You said there's only one family of unicorns here, right?" She took a step towards the edge of the roof.

"Er, yeah, the Amber family. Very old family, been here since the town was founded. Only one branch of the family remains though, and they tend to keep to themselves. They're doctors, mostly." He squinted down at the figure in the distance. "I think that's Amber Rose, their eldest daughter."

"I'm gonna go have a word with her." Moonstruck grunted. She teleported down to the street, and trotted towards the young unicorn, not bothering with an illusion - her cloak covered her wings, anyway. As she approached, she realized that the unicorn was still but a filly - probably around the same age as her brother; tall but gangly with a short cropped mane and tail. Her cloak was of very fine material and repelled water with ease.

"You were a pegasus yesterday." The filly said as Moonstruck stopped a polite distance to the side. She did not turn to look at Moonstruck, just twitched an ear in her direction. "I saw you from my window when you were at the book shop."

"I can appear to be many things." Moonstruck said cryptically. "Have you ever seen it do this?"

"No. Great grandmother said that when the last of the outposts were lost it was like this for months afterwords. She said it was an ill omen." She finally turned to look at Moonstruck. "So is the arrival of newcomers who can change their shape."

Moonstruck snorted a laugh. "You made that last bit up."

Amber Rose smiled very faintly.

"A little bird tells me that there's only one family of unicorns left here in town."

"Yes. Most of them left long ago. Magic..." she scowled, "magic does not always work the way it should here."

"Does it ever not work at all?" Moonstruck lifted a brow.

"No, it just... isn't as powerful as it should be, or it doesn't quite do what was intended." Amber Rose scowled. "My family practices Earth Pony medicine, but with telekinesis, so our ways are simple. We have been mostly unaffected. The families that owned the mines, and hunted for the crystals grew flustered and left when they could no longer locate crystals easily."

Moonstruck nodded as her mental timer went off, she shifted her weight and gazed out at the foothills. At any moment Luna would teleport back; if she really was what was riling up the magic field, there should be some evidence of her arrival. She flicked an ear back as she felt a faint shiver of powerful magic, and a familiar spell at that. Line of sight teleportation was nearly instantaneous, but long distance teleportation could take up to thirty seconds, which mostly meant that a sensitive unicorn could feel the magic build up a few moments before the traveler arrived. The magic storm didn't seem to do anything in particular for the build up, but there was a very prominent ripple when Luna arrived in the mayors office.

"Hmm." Moonstruck grunted. "Well, that doesn't answer much. Later."

"What?" Amber Rose asked, turning around as Moonstruck started to amble away.

"Was conducting a little experiment. Results are inconclusive." Moonstruck shrugged. "It will probably take more time to work out."

"You know something about the magic storm!?" Amber Rose asked, trotting to catch up.

"Not really. Was hoping you did, actually, since you live here." Moonstruck sighed.

"Oh." She was silent for a few moments. "I know about the pegasus pony they found near the foothills."

Moonstruck stopped and spun around. "You saw Sarah!?"

Amber Rose slid to a stop then stumbled back a couple of steps. "Ye-yes! I was making rounds with my mother that day - my father was on the team that brought her in! I helped stitch up some of her wounds!"

"Did you notice anything that didn't make it into the final reports?"

She blinked a few times. "Um... no? I don't know, I was only helping my Mother! I don't even know what went in to the reports!"

Moonstruck scowled. "I need to speak with your parents."

"I - they're hiding. From the storm. I-I'm actually not supposed to be outside right now..." Amber Rose ducked her head and pulled her ears back.

Moonstruck let out an irate sigh. The words were about to say were words she'd never thought she'd use in seriousness, but she sensed she didn't have time to convince the filly any other way.

"By royal decree, I, Princess Moonstruck of the Queendom of Trot, and Royal Agent of High Princess Celestia demand that you take me to your parents!" She flared her wings dramatically.

Amber Rose sat town abruptly, her jaw dropping open. "I did not expect that."

"Well?"

"Where's Trot? I've never heard of it."

"It's a little country off the west coast of Equestria - seriously, I need to talk to your folks."

"Why would Princess Celestaia send someone we've never heard of all the way out here?"

"Reasons. Go. Parents. Talk to. Now!" Moonstruck levitated Amber Rose and set her on her hooves.

"R-right! Um - I'm gonna get in trouble for this…"

* * *

A few minutes later she was standing in the drawing room of a large house towards the southern edge of town. Moonstruck magicked away all of the mud and water in her fur, fluffed her woefully messy mane as best she could and hung her cloak and saddlebags on a coat rack by the door. In hindsight, she should have gone and snagged Luna to help, but she had an inkling that time was of the essence. Amber Rose returned from the depths of the house to bring her into a large study, where a handsome pair of unicorns stood sternly next to the picture windows. They scowled at their daughter as she trotted sheepishly into the room, then blanched as they saw Moonstruck.

"Okay, quick question." Moonstruck said before anyone else could speak. "Was there anything you left out of the report you wrote on Sarah that you did not send to Canterlot?"

They simply stared wide eyed at her.

"What?"

"Y-your highness, it is truly an honor to -"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes and waved a hoof.

"Yeah, yeah. Really, I don't have a lotta time here - was there anything that you left out of the report of the pegasus pony who was found near the foothills?"

They exchanged confused glances. "No, not that I know of."

"Did it mention her broken ulna?"

"And her concussion?"

"Also that she only had one, greatly diminished wing digit on each wing, and her strange skull and dental growth?"

"And that her digestive track seemed entirely different from -"

"Yeah, it had all of that." From what Moonstruck could remember, anyway. She'd just skimmed the technical stuff. "I mean... I dunno, anything magical that might have been off about her? Anything in particular about where she was found? Something she might have said while she was delirious?"

The stallion scowled. "Magically speaking it is difficult to tell what is normal so near the foothills. As for location... well simply being that close to the foothills is odd. The only reason she was found at all was that a patrol had gotten turned around at night and had strayed closer than normal. And, well, she kept mentioning a dragon who had helped her - but I'm quite certain I included that in the report."

Moonstruck nodded, crestfallen. "Okay, just checking." She sighed. "Sorry to bother you."

hr

"Well, that was a waste of time." Moonstruck muttered to herself as she ventured out into the rain again. She mentally kicked herself for not leaving a nodestone in the mayors office before she left, which would allow her to teleport directly. Windwake and the weather ponies didn't seem to be having any luck with the storm; it was still raining steadily.

"There you are." Luna said as Moonstruck shook off on the porch of City Hall. "Where did you go?"

"To talk to the family of unicorns that live here." Moonstruck grunted, again magicking away the mud and water from her fur. She really should have brought her rain boots.

"It was a dead end, they don't know much of anything."

Luna sighed. "Did you notice any change in the magic storm when I returned?"

"It rippled a bit, but that was it. You might have to stay away longer."

Luna nodded and led the way indoors. "I intend to leave tomorrow morning. Sister is sending a team of scientists here to monitor the magical disturbance, perhaps I should enlist the local unicorns as well."

"Probably a good idea."

Mayor Tumbleweed was setting a tea tray on his desk as they walked into his office.

"Sorry I don't make it as good as Sagebrush, figured you'd like something warm to drink and a little breakfast."

"Yes, thank you." Luna dipped her head politely and selected a cup, saucer, and pastry off the tray.

"Read my mind." Moonstruck grunted, following suit. They munched in silence for a while, listening to the occasional thunder, watching the rain hit the window.

"Anyone here play cards?" Moonstruck asked after she'd eaten. She hadn't played since they'd left Canterlot.

"I happen to be Stirrup Springs' poker champion six years runnin'!" Tumbleweed beamed.

"Oh ho ho!" Moonstruck grinned and whipped out her deck, shuffling the cards in a dazzling display of telekenetic dexterity. "I'm gonna take that as a challenge, sir!"

Luna moved aside as they plopped down on the floor.

"Now you're making me nervous, Your Highness. Dunno if I can stomach letting you win."

"Don't worry, you won't need to." Moonstruck winked.

Sitting down on the floor with a deck of cards between them was amazingly soothing; the fury of the storm faded into the background, the magical disturbance pressing at the very edge of her perception became so much white noise, and the task ahead of her seemed like some far-off distant chore that she'd get to when she got around to it. She let the mayor deal, and inspected her hand, her mind drifting placidly between the various options she held, the strategies she could use. Of course, it all depended on the luck of the draw. Poker wasn't a card game exactly, but a game of observation and misdirection. Tumbleweed was not particularly hard to read. After three rounds she was quite certain he was convinced he was going easy on her, and that he had no idea she was going easy on him in turn. After five, she was pretty sure she knew the bulk of his unconscious twitches. The sixth round she tested a few theories, confirmed a couple of his more cryptic idiosyncrasies. After that, it was a massacre.

"Y-you sure you're not psychic?" Tumbleweed asked after she called his bluff for the umpteenth time.

"Quite. You just wrinkle your nose a tad when you have a pair of something. If it's aces, your left hind hoof twitches a little. If it's something smaller you tend to keep it more on the down low." Moonstruck said absently, shuffling the cards.

He gaped at her.

"Well y-you... um... kinda raise an eyebrow when you... no wait, you were bluffing. And - ah, no you were bluffing then too..."

Moonstruck giggled. "Sorry, I never properly introduced myself; I'm Moonstruck. Maverick Moonstruck, best card player in all of Trot."

"Oh, horse apples!" He laughed, "well, I stepped in it, didn't I?"

"Only a little."

Out in the other room, the door opened and then shut, the sound of at least two sets of hooves and hushed conversation echoed down the quiet hall.

"Sagebrush, that you!?" Tumbleweed called.

"Yeah, it's me, and Sheriff Juniper Berry!"

"Oh good, she'll have the latest info on the foothills." Tumbleweed said, he climbed to his hooves and started clearing off his desk. "Want some tea?"

"Yes, please!" Sagebrush said as she and the sheriff trotted into the room. The sheriff slid to a stop as she saw Princess Luna seated on a cushion casually sipping tea, then her wide, blue eyes snapped down to Moonstruck, whom was gathering up her deck of cards and placing them back in their pouch.

"I almost didn't believe you." The sheriff muttered.

"Ah, This is Juniper Berry, our sheriff. Juniper, I'm sure you recognize Princess Luna, and this is Princess Moonstruck from Trottingham."

"Just Trot." Moonstruck grunted, getting to her hooves.

"Right, sorry."

"I-it's an honor," She said, continuing into the room. "So, Sagebrush tells me Princess Moonstruck will be on a solo expedition into the Broken Lands."

"Indeed she is." Tumbleweed nodded, removing the last of the brick-a-brack and paperwork from his desk. "And I understand you know of a pretty reliable way to get into the foothills."

"Yes, we have a small outpost there. It's where we base our patrols in that region." She shrugged out of her saddle bags, then pulled a neatly folded map out of one of them. The chestnut mare trotted to the desk, then expertly flipped the map down so that it unfolded a little on its own, then hastily unfolded it the rest of the way. Moonstruck approached the desk, noting that it was color coded; green areas were absolutely free of magical distortion, blue areas had some minor disturbances, purple areas were iffy at best, and red were highly unstable and strictly off limits.

"We're going to send you off from here," Juniper Berry said, tapping a black dot labeled Lookout Hill Outpost. It was on the edge of two zones; blue which was closer to town, and purple which transitioned to red on it's opposite edge. "It's the furthest we've been able to build into the foothills since we lost Beacon Hill Outpost over a century ago. There's a quirk with the magic there that means anyone who goes in on hoof will make it safely to the red zone. If and when they return, they'll return to this spot, pretty much."

Moonstruck grunted and nodded.

"The going isn't easy though; the landscape is only reliable up to the edge of this little valley here." She indicated a shallow valley beyond the outpost. "Once you cross that ridge, things tend to shift around on you. I've only been to the edge of the purple zone myself, and it was mighty confusing. We can walk all day, make our way through the maze of hills and canyons, send pegasus up to scout around only make it about five miles in. Unicorns can make it into the red zone, but there's points where they must be able to fly; and other points where the wind is so strong that flying is absolutely out of the question."

"So I've been told."

"The last expedition probably made it about seven miles in - nowhere near the higher mountains. They were gone almost a month, and they estimated that the bulk of the time was spent going in circles. I'm assuming that the logic here is that you have magic, and flight capabilities, so you should be able to muddle your way through the distortion." She eyed Moonstruck curiously.

"I'm also good at cards." Moonstruck nodded solemnly.

Juniper Berry stared at her for a second then shifted her gaze to Luna. "Is she kidding?"

"I am afraid not." Luna sighed.

"She's really good, actually." Tumbleweed chimed in a bit cluelessly.

Juniper Berry shook her head. "Your gear is being delivered to headquarters. We'll depart from there by carriage about noon. It should take us half the day to get to the outpost, and you can set off first thing in the morning."

"Weather permitting." Moonstruck added.

The sheriff smirked. "If we waited for that, you'd never get a chance to leave."

* * *

Windwake met up with her as Moonstruck hoofed it back over to the inn to gather her things and check out. The storm, he was irritated to report, was not manageable. Whatever weather was happening when Moonstruck departed was the weather she was stuck with.

As promised, the gear was waiting for her at the sheriffs office; and she was mildly disturbed to discover the bulk of it was made up of a special, lightweight tent and bedroll that folded up small enough to fit into a standard sized saddle bag. The rest was specially built, lightweight survival gear, a half dozen slim journals and pencils, and a special travel bread that was enchanted to keep for a long time. She had known ahead of time that she would have to forage for the bulk of her food, but it simply hadn't hit her that they wouldn't be sending her off with oodles of dried fruits, and things. She did have some dried fruit, but it was only enough to supplement a few meals. She had actually brought more snacks with her for the trip out to Stirrup Springs than they were giving her for a possibly months-long expedition into the Broken Mountains.

While they readied the carriage, she arranged her saddle bags; all of her new gear fit neatly inside, and there was enough space for a couple of extra odds and ends, including her cloak, which she would fold up when not using, a warm vest, a spare canteen, a hair brush (not that it ever did much good) and her playing cards and assorted crystals and pebbles. She left those in their pouch and stashed them in the bag. Windwake watched her pack, the distressed look on his face reflecting the churning in her gut.

"You don't have to go, you know. You can always back out." He said as she finished.

"I know. I figure it's at least worth a shot. I'll probably just get lost like everypony else and have to turn back." Moonstruck sighed, magicking her saddlebags onto her back, adjusting her wings, then pulling her cloak on. "They say there's not much out there. Mostly just some ordinary animals. No monsters or anything."

He scowled, but nodded. "I'd come with you, if I could."

"I know."

They made their way into the garage, where the carriage was waiting. Four earth pony stallions in special rain gear were hitched to it and ready to go. Tumbleweed, Luna and Juniper Berry were chatting off to the side. They stopped as Moonstruck and Windwake came into view.

"All set?" Juniper Berry asked.

"Yep." Moonstruck grunted.

"I cannot accompany you to the outpost," Luna shook her head regretfully, "so I shall say my farewells now."

"Yeah, I figured. Have a nice flight back." Moonstruck said, dipping her head.

"Have a safe journey, and may the winds be in your favor." Luna mirrored the gesture.

With that, Moonstruck, Juniper Berry and Windwake climbed into the carriage. Moonstruck stared out the back window as the carriage lurched into motion. Stirrup Springs quickly faded into the rainy gloom. They played cards to pass the time, and watched the soggy landscape slide by. Unlike before, in the mayors office, she didn't slip into a zen-like state of amused peace as the cards were dealt; it was a cold detachment that greeted her instead. She could still read her opponents, the cards, even the rattle and sway of the carriage as it trundled over the bumpy, muddy road, but it brought no joy and did nothing to soothe her restless nerves.


	8. Chapter 7

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Moonstruck was not able to take advantage of her last night in a real bed. Sleep was elusive, and when she did manage to drift off, she was plagued by strange, shadowy dreams that she could not recall later. Her alarm went off far too soon, and before she knew it, she was dragging herself into the mess hall for a hearty breakfast.

"Sleep well?" Windwake asked, plopping down opposite her. He didn't appear to have slept much either.

"Nope." Moonstruck grunted around a bite of apple.

She noted that Windwake hadn't bothered to put any gel in his mane, and his minty green and dark teal locks were falling across one eye the way he used to wear it before he joined the academy. Even flying across Equestria he'd been impeccably groomed at all times (barring heavy rain, of course). The Academy of the Trot Royal Guard regarded the traditional pegasus stand-up mane style as a badge of honor; it was exceedingly rare to see a male guardspony without one at any time – especially those with two-toned manes like Windwake whom could trim the royal wave pattern into the outer edges of the mohawk.

"I think you may be more rattled than I am."

Windwake furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side. She pointed a piece of carrot at his mane. He rolled his eyes upwards then ducked his head sheepishly.

"Ah ha ha, yeah. Guess I am." He closed his eyes for a few moments. "Aren't you scared?"

"Terrified." Moonstruck grunted around a spoonful of oatmeal.

He straightened up a little and scowled. "Well you could show it a little! Geeze, I feel like I'm the only one who's properly freaking out about all of this!"

Moonstruck gave him a blank stare, recalled that she'd said those exact words to her mother once, then smirked.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'm so far beyond freaked out, and my terror runs so deep, that I can't even muster up the energy to have a proper mental breakdown."

Windwake continued to scowl at her. "That does help."

Sheriff Juniper Berry ambled over to them. "You're in luck, the rains letting off some. You should be departing in a light drizzle."

"Yaaaaaay," Moonstruck said in a small, deadpan voice.

She didn't rush to finish her breakfast; there was a high probability that she would puke soon, and she felt no need to gamble with her stomach. She had also packed everything already and had her saddlebags sitting under the table at her hooves, so she did not need to return to her room to get them.

It was indeed drizzling when she, Windwake and the sheriff stepped outside. Only a few officers were around, mostly going about their usual business. It would be another fanfareless exit, she sensed. It was probably for the better.

They made their way out of the fenced in garden/staging area of the outpost through a tall gate and Moonstruck was finally able to get a clear view of her surroundings. Well, clear-ish; it was still drizzling, and the cloud cover was low enough that it blocked most of the upper reaches of the Broken range from view. The outpost was situated on top of a long, low hill that swept at a shallow angle back towards the lowlands. The north side of the hill seemed to drop off more abruptly into a small, shallow vale. It was towards this vale that they walked. The grass, she was relieved to note, was green and vibrant, and most of the hills she could see were in a similar state of new spring growth. She shouldn't have any trouble foraging for food.

The Sheriff nodded to a pair of fence posts spaced a couple of lengths apart along the ridge, where a cloaked and hooded pony was waiting for them. "Doctor Amber Glen will tell you how to get the best start - there's a trick to it."

"Right." Moonstruck nodded, eyes flicking over the hooded figure, then to the shallow valley below. The fence posts were the start of a wide trail that zigzagged down the steep incline to a pair of standing stones at the base of the hill.

"Ah, we meet again, Princess Moonstruck. Well met." Doctor Amber Glen said, as they approached. He bowed deeply.

"Mornin'." Moonstruck yawned. "Sorry to bust in on you yesterday, thought I might be on to something."

"I-it's quite alright." He straightened up. "When I received the request to instruct somepony how to enter the foothills, I assumed it would be you, and much of your behavior made more sense."

"Did she just barge in and start asking weird questions?" Windwake - mane now properly gelled if a bit saggy in the drizzle - asked wryly.

"Er, yes." The Doctor said.

 _"_ She does that. _"_

"Ahem, gentlecolts?" The sheriff cleared her throat and eyed them. "She does need to get moving."

"Right." Doctor Amber stamped a hoof. "This is essentially a stable point in an otherwise unpredictable landscape." He gestured to the fence posts, rock lined trail, and standing stones. "For reasons unknown, anypony who comes and goes from this point will generally be able to travel a decent distance and not get terribly lost until they go deep into the foothills. Additionally, when they do ultimately give up and turn back, they will return to this point, even if they are not actively trying to get back to this particular spot."

He shifted his weight. "Once past the standing stones, you must travel straight across the vale by hoof. There is no trail past the standing stones - those stones are the last point that ponies have been able to build anything of any sort of permanence. Beyond that, nothing remains. At least, nothing modern. You will encounter occasional ghost towns and ruins."

He frowned and worked his jaw around a little. "They are unmappable, so I cannot tell you which ones to avoid. Some are safe to pass through - even camp in - others are not."

"As I said, proceed straight across the vale and straight up the other side. Do not look back, and do not fly. Once there, you will encounter two naturally occurring standing stones. Pass between them, and be prepared for a drastically different landscape."

"You cannot fly for the first three days, it will simply push you back out faster than if you're on hoof for that time. We do not know why."

Moonstruck nodded, staring into the distance.

"I am afraid that is all I can tell you. These are the only constants."

"Goodie." Moonstruck muttered. She shook her head, and looked back at the sheriff and Windwake. The look on Windwake's face almost made her turn around and run back inside, but she resisted. Barely.

"Well, guess I should get going."

"Best of luck to you." Doctor Amber Glen said, stepping aside.

"Good luck, and safe travels." Sheriff Juniper Berry dipped her head respectfully.

Windwake stepped over and hugged her tightly, which was kind of awkward considering they were both quadrupeds. "Come back safe, okay?" He whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah." Moonstruck grunted, patting him on the back with one free wing. "I think you still owe me a game of Gin-Rummy-Smackdown. Can't let you off easy on that one."

He let out a short, broken laugh, then took a step back, looking away. "Yeah, can't do that."

Moonstruck turned her back to them and stared down the trail, then up at the looming overcast, and what seemed an impossibly long chain of hills stretching, and rising away into the distance. For a while she couldn't coax herself to take that first step. She sighed, closed her eyes, lowered her head, then willed her front right hoof to move, lifting it slowly off the sodden ground, then placing it roughly down. Next was her rear left leg, then left front, then right rear. After she had gone a few trembling steps, she opened her eyes, and started shakily down the steep trail.

Everything changed when she rounded the first switchback; not physically, not exactly, but she could feel it; feel the magic flicker faintly, feel the very earth itself take on a different sort of rhythm. It was very quiet, now that she was paying attention. No birds sang, no deer were grazing down in the lush vale below, no rodents scurried out of her way as she passed. It had felt like she'd entered another world entirely by the time she reached the standing stones. She half turned to look back the way she'd come, was relieved to see three figures at the top of the hill watching her. This, she knew, would be the last she saw of them for some time.

Turning forward, she stared between the roughly hewn stones, let out a long, shaky breath, then stepped between them. Past them. Out into the fresh spring grass and scattered early season wildflowers. Unable to take the stillness, she started out at a brisk trot, listening to the faint clinking of the metal bits of her gear in her packs, the slightly soggy clip clop of her hooves on the ground, the grass whispering past her legs, and the beating of her own heart.

It took her about thirty minutes to cross the vale, and ten to climb the hill on the opposite side. It hadn't seemed that far from the outpost, nor as rocky and steep. As promised, there was another set of standing stones at the crest of the hill among a tangle of imposing thorn bushes.

Moonstruck resisted the urge to look back and inspected the stones instead. They were rather unremarkable; nothing seemed out of the ordinary with them, they just happened to be a little over an average ponies width apart. They weren't even particularly tall. There also didn't seem to be anything of interest beyond the stones; just a faint animal trail winding through the shrubs and prickly bushes. Shrugging, she cautiously stepped between them, then out the other side, where her stomach dropped, and she stumbled onto level ground, even though it felt like she'd just missed a stair at the bottom of a long staircase.

It was snowing softly, the grass was brown, there was old snow lurking in shady patches, and the landscape was packed with dense shrubs and scraggly trees. Moonstruck whipped around to look back between the standing stones (since, presumably it was safe to do that now), but the space beyond the stones appeared to be the same as the one she was standing in.

"Well, that's disorienting," she muttered. At least here it wasn't so silent, there was soft birdsong coming from many of the bushes, and faint rustlings of things in the underbrush. There was no trail to speak of, but the ceiling was high enough that she could see the higher peaks beneath the clouds. They didn't seem any closer than they had before, although she suspected she had gained some altitude.

Moonstruck started picking her way through the underbrush towards the Broken Mountains. She did not have a plan to speak of, beyond making a bee-line towards the highest parts of the range. If the landscape liked to rearrange itself at will, there was no point in trying to find passes, or even trails - although she would happily take a trail if it seemed to lead to where she wanted to go.

At first, the non-plan seemed to work. She made her way through the scrublands without incident, and descended into a deep, sheltered gorge - where it was more springlike - shortly before nightfall. There, she set up camp, refilled her canteens, and ate a slightly heartier version of lunch that consisted of half of a slice of travel bread, a little dried fruit, and various greens she was able to rustle up in the general vicinity.

"Well," she said to herself after the evening chores were done and she was sitting next to the fire snuggled up under a blanket, and her cloak on top of that to protect against the drizzle and occasional snowflake. "One day down. Who knows how many left."

She tilted her head back to squint at the gloom lurking overhead that was blocking the stars. Her mother had taught her to navigate by the stars when she was a tiny little filly, but she sensed that would not be useful here. At least Breezy's ability to light a fire anywhere with pretty much anything seemed to have rubbed off on her a little - most of the deadfall she'd found had been damp, but she'd been able to get a fire going with little difficulty.

Now that she thought about it, she was starting to regret tuning Patch out whenever she started prattling on about birds. Patch was an avid birdwatcher - that would probably be useful out here. And Windwake had always been the dumbest forager ever, and had tried pretty much every wild berry that grew in Trot, so he'd have a half decent idea of what was edible and what wasn't - or at least the guts to sample one and find out. And Acorn knew everything there was to know about plants and mushrooms so he'd be able to find food in the darnedest places, and... and...

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, a few tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

"I shoulda insisted on bringing Breezy and Patch and Windwake."

Her brother would have been useful, but he was a little young to be embarking on a very dangerous quest.

The precipitation began to pick up, shifting into rain with a little snow mixed in. Moonstruck sniffled, then retreated into her tent. Once inside, she wiped a few more tears away, folded up her cloak and placed it in the corner near the flap, then climbed into her bed roll. It was going to be a long, cold night.

* * *

The three day no-fly-timeframe rolled by slowly, although Moonstruck was confident that she was making some decent progress, insomuch that she had not yet been sent in circles. The morning of the fourth day she waited for the weather to clear a bit before taking to the air. She resisted the urge to fly high, choosing instead to cruise along only three hundred feet above the landscape. This seemed to work for a while, but sudden winds would force her higher, or lower, or off course, and by the end of the day she'd spent more time fighting the wind than anything else.

The next day she decided to only fly when she reached something that she could not climb easily, or go around without veering far off course. She soon found herself in a rather vexing stretch of steep, rocky hills with few sources for water, and little green vegetation. While it was not as cold here as it had been elsewhere, not much was growing in this area yet. Thankfully the rain had stopped, and the skies were clear, so she had a perfect view of the higher mountains that did not seem any closer than they had before, even though she was five and a half days out from Stirrup Springs.

Moonstruck came to rest on a knob of granite and contemplated her next move. She had been back and forth across the general vicinity several times, but she had not found a good way through this particular stretch of hills. Winds were strong out of the north (where she wanted to go), and at higher altitudes; the going was tedious on the ground, and it was getting late. She stared at her elongated shadow, then scanned the ridge directly in front of her. She had not tried teleporting yet - she was hesitant to do so, considering all of the distortion out here, and this area in particular seemed to have a lot of magical noise, not unlike static on a radio broadcast. She squinted at another spire of rock about a hundred yards away.

"That should work." She muttered. She stood up, lowered her head, fixed her gaze on the spot she wanted to teleport to, and cast her spell.

A split second later, she stood on the other spire of rock, intact, and unharmed. She grinned and turned around. She wasn't sure how far she could get like this, but it was certainly worth a shot. Spotting another good place to teleport to, she repeated the process. It worked again, but now she could feel a distinct sort of magical _something_ building up around her. Her ears popped a couple of times, as she swept her gaze around her, searching for any sign of attack, or even a sudden thunderstorm. Deciding to err on the side of caution, she sprang off the boulder she was on, landed a little roughly on the ground below, and trotted across the ridge to a less steep area where she could climb down more easily. The foothills were riddled with little river canyons and shallow gorges where the foraging was generally better, so she'd been camping in them whenever possible. The sun was low enough in the western sky to start searching for a suitable place to camp, and this little river valley seemed to be as good a place as any.

The climb down to the valley floor was fairly easy, and there was indeed more palatable vegetation growing around a babbling brook. There were a number of scraggly looking trees growing in the more open spaces, and a lot of old stumps and mounds that indicated that the logs were still present under a layer of dirt, rocks, and moss. She wondered if a flood had swept through here at some point and felled the trees; but the stumps, and their logs were broken off as if something from downstream had, in fact, blown them all down. Probably all at once.

She tried to remember if the area was volcanic as she hopped from boulder to boulder to cross the creek, and head up the other side of the ravine a short way to investigate what she thought was a shallow cave sitting up above the bulk of the flood lines. Judging by the wear of the rock, the river hadn't flooded to that level in some time, and going by the depth of the canyon now, it wouldn't do it again. There was an almost trail to the possible-cave - as if something at some point might have used it for shelter, but had long since moved on to less confusing real estate. Moonstruck hopped up onto a wide, flat rock just below the opening and grinned. It was indeed a shallow cave; perhaps only a few yards long, and deep, and a couple yards high. It had some decent fern growth sprouting from the ceiling, and a sandy floor that didn't look like it had been disturbed in some time. This was probably the best place she'd found to camp thus far.

She quickly set up her tent towards the back of the cave, then dug a fire pit and lined it with a few river stones that were conveniently near by. From there she climbed back down to the ravine floor to collect firewood, and edible plants for dinner.

As she scrounged around, she took note that there were very few signs of animals. Most of the foothills had been all but devoid of animal life; she had found very few trackways, and only directly observed a limited array of small birds and rodents. She attributed this in part due to the fairly recent arrival of spring, and all of the magical distortion making it difficult to navigate, but it was still unsettling to be the only large(ish) creature in the region. Where were the deer? The mountain sheep and goats? The wolves and lynx, and turkeys, and rabbits, and hawks and crows, and vultures and anything else one typically found in regions like this?

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't noticed any fish in any of the waterways she'd encountered - again, it was early in the season, but _something_ had to be active. She paused to stare into the creek she happened to be standing by, watching just below the waters surface. There had to be some trout in there somewhere. After a full minute, she sighed dramatically.

"Fine! Be like that! Not like there's any bugs around for you to eat anyway."

She continued on her quest for firewood and food, taking note of the position of the sun and estimating she had an hour or so until sunset. Without the cloud cover it had been consistently warmer during the day, but considerably colder at night. It had also allowed her to gauge her position via the stars, but she was dismayed to note that everything her mother taught her was mostly useless out here. No matter where she seemed to go, the stars always managed to stay in the same position.

She picked up one final well aged, thick branch for her fire, and scowled. "Maybe I should try traveling at night. It's cold though. And even frostier aloft than it is on the ground."

She started back to her tent. "Plus, the only landmark I can rely on is the mountains in the distance, if the stars are wrong, I might just end up back at Stirrup Springs."

She scrunched up her face. "When did I start talking to myself out loud?"

She looked around, flicking one ear to the side. "No really! I never did this before, did I? I mean, I probably did a little. Everyone does a little, I think."

She started up the almost-trail to her little cave. "No one mentioned going insane on this trip. I mean, I guess it goes without saying, since I'm out here by myself for goodness knows how long. Just out wandering around a maddening lan – HA!"

She reached the cave and set the firewood down next to the fire pit, and the food down on her saddlebags.

"These aren't the Broken Mountains, these are the Mountains of Madness!"

She chuckled to herself, then launched a small spark at the dry wood, setting it ablaze. Once she was sure the fire wouldn't flicker out, she inspected her leafy greens, and what dried fruit and bread she had left. She'd been eating one slice of the bread a day - half with breakfast, and half with dinner. It was fairly innocuous looking, but was loaded with ground nuts, and grains that provided a decent amount of nutrients, and a little bit of sugar and salt. She'd be out of it in a week, at this rate. She frowned.

"Maybe I should go down to a quarter for breakfast, and half for dinner?"

She foraged for greens for every meal, so it shouldn't be too bad, but the more nutritious plants hadn't started sprouting yet, for the most part, so the bread was important. She could just spend more time foraging; munch more on whatever she happened across as she happened across it. She shook her head and broke a slice of the bread - which was really more like a plain, unfilled Poptart - in half and started munching on it as she eyed her tiny pile of dried fruit. She was down to four dried apricots, and six dehydrated apples. She'd been eating those sparingly - mostly at breakfast, when a little something sweet helped to wake her up.

"May as well just keep that up." She sighed, placing them back in their container, then back in the saddlebag. She'd known those wouldn't last long, she just hadn't expected to be running low on food so quickly. And she hadn't made any real progress. The higher peaks were still days away on hoof, and unreachable by flight. She was starting to wonder if there were even really mountains over there, if maybe it was all just some strange optical illusion and that it was simply a matter of wandering into the right valley to reach Roanamia. Or perhaps it was one of those places that couldn't be found, except for by those who already know where it is. She hoped it wasn't one of those places.

* * *

"Hey, wait up!"

"Arbor Fern! We can't keep up when you go that fast."

"Sorry! Sorry! Mom and Dad must be worried sick by now! And keep it down, we don't want to start an avalanche."

"Pff, we can't start an avalanche! There's not enough snow!"

"You can't fool us!"

"We're big foals now, you can't use that trick anymore!"

"Still just... just keep it down. Something's not right."

Moonstruck twitched and curled tighter, aware on some primal level that it was very cold outside her tent and blankets, and that she would be wise to continue sleeping. Something even deeper, and older was poking her in the back of the head though, keeping her from slipping fully back to sleep. Something that was more on the ball, something that was constantly aware of her surroundings; particularly at times when something was terribly amiss with her surroundings.

"What's not right?"

"I don't know. I just... just humor me, okay?"

"Okaaaaaaayyyy."

Moonstruck scowled. Would those kids shut up already? It was too darn early in the morning for them to be out and about. And from the sounds of it they were awful young - where were their parents? What were they doing out here by themselves, anyway?

 _Out here_. She woke up a little more, eyebrows making a casual saunter towards her mane. Out here in the middle of freaking nowhere, where nopony lived, and everything was confusing as heck... she opened her eyes and shot her head up, ears fixed on the fading voices of the foals as they made their way through the canyon. They were past her cave at this point, quietly crunching through the snow - _snow_?

Moonstruck wriggled out of her bedroll and unzipped her tent. A blast of icy air greeted her, causing her to blink rapidly and shake her head before pushing it cautiously out of the partially opened flap. It had snowed all right; a good six inches, and it was still coming down steadily. There were tracks down by the creek bed, winding among the trees and rocks and... hold up the trees were back? The big ones that had appeared to have fallen long ago were now standing proudly, their boughs heavy with snow. There was still a distinct lack of birdsong, however. The quiet was deeper somehow, more profound, which made the sounds of three foals crunching through the snow jarringly loud.

"How long was I asleep?" She muttered to herself, breath frosting. It was just after dawn, as near as she could tell. She squinted along the tracks, and listened for the foals. If there were foals here, there had to be a village nearby.

Making up her mind, she hastily broke camp, magicking everything but her cloak, and a flannel vest she'd brought with her into her saddle bags. She was mildly surprised when she pulled her vest on to find it a little too big. All of this questing seemed to have slimmed her down a bit. Shrugging, she pulled on her saddlebags, then cloak, and darted down the almost-trail to the tracks in the snow. Sure enough, there were three sets of small pony tracks, one a little larger than the others. They were headed downstream. She trotted along the trackway, head up, and ears twitching this way and that, alert to any other surprises. She was sure the foals were just up ahead, out of sight through the trees, but she couldn't seem to catch up with them, and she was reluctant to fly - this place reacted so strangely to flying ponies, and this day was already off to a weird start.

The canyon walls became less steep, and grew further apart as the trees grew taller and closer together. The trail veered off to the side, leaving the creek, and forest behind to cut across a large, flat plain that sloped gently into the distance. Moonstruck couldn't see where the tracks led, it was snowing very heavily now, and the wind was strong out in the open. She put her head down and plowed through the deeper snow, wondering how the foals managed to get so far so fast when the snow must be up to their bellies out here. She could hear them faintly under the wind; three sets of crunching hooves, and the occasional snippet of conversation. She also wondered if they knew where they were going. It wasn't quite a white void; distant trees and the occasional bush could be seen, and whenever the wind shifted she caught a glimpse of hills in the near distance that seemed to indicate they were descending into a valley. It hadn't looked like this from the air yesterday; the canyon had meandered around quite a bit without opening up into any large, nearly level areas. In fact, this whole section of foothills had been quite rugged, and rather more vertical than horizontal last she saw.

She slid to a stop as the foals materialized out of the driving snow. One was a little taller and presumably older than the others. They were bundled up in coats, and snow boots. They had paused, it seemed, to get their bearings. Then they were gone again, fading into the storm at a dead run. Moonstruck cursed under her breath and picked up speed, wondering if shouting at them would get their attention, but she was downwind, and the storm was loud enough that she doubted her voice would carry. When she reached the point where they had stopped, she froze. The ground took a steep drop here, and there was a village in the valley below. Although the snow was distorting things, it appeared to be in ruins. Cursing more vehemently, Moonstruck galloped after the foals, hoping to catch up with them before they reached their village.

Again they proved amazingly fast for their size, and the current conditions. They were down the hill and to the edge of the village just as Moonstruck caught up with them.

"Hey! Hey kids hold up! It might be dangerous!"

The foals didn't seem to have heard her. They exchanged glances.

"You two wait here, I'll go check it out." The older one said.

"We're coming with you!" The two younger said in unison. They were twins.

"It might be dangerous!" The older insisted.

"You're not that much older than us, yanno!" The twins huffed. "We'll watch your back!"

"Grrr, fine! Stay close! And be quiet!" The older one hissed. She started cautiously into the village, her younger siblings huddling close to one another just behind her.

"Hey! Whoa, all three of you need to wait here! Hey!" Moonstruck panted, trotting up beside them. "Hey, can you hear me, or what!?"

She lifted a foreleg and nudged the older one. Or, tried to, her hoof passed right through the filly, who didn't seem to notice a thing.

Moonstruck jumped back, eyes wide, a chill creeping down her spine that had nothing to do with the weather. They had told her she might encounter ghost towns. She didn't think they'd contain actual ghosts. _Not ghosts_ , she corrected herself, shaking her head, _echoes_. This is something that had happened eons ago and was still replaying here, just like Sarahs impossible escape from the airship continued to be seen from Stirrup Springs for weeks after it happened. The fillies continued their cautious trek down the main street of the tiny village, heads held low, eyes darting back and forth nervously. Moonstruck swallowed hard and looked around, noting that the village had been freshly razed, from the looks of it, although none of the rubble was still smoking. About half of the buildings were intact, but all of the windows had been blown out. If there had been any survivors, they were long gone. She absently followed the fillies, wondering what, if anything, she should do.

"Arbor Fern, where's Mom and Dad?" One of the twins whimpered. "Shouldn't they be here?"

"I don't know." The older foal said. "I don't hear anypony..."

"MOOOOOMY!? DAAADY!?" The other twin shouted, tears streaming down her face. "UNCLE CLOUDSTOP!?"

"SHHHH!" Arbor Fern hissed.

"Why!? No one is here!" The first twin barked, stomping a hoof. She was crying too. "We're the only ponies here! We can scream all we want and no one will... no one will..." She broke into sobs, and sat down. Her twin sister joined her. Arbor Fern started to cry too, but shook her head violently and pawed at the ground instead.

"We need to keep it together. Everypony probably hid out in the hills like us when the lights started! We just, we just have to go find them!"

 _Lights?_ Moonstruck wondered, looking around, feeling awkward. She knew this had happened long ago, and the fillies weren't really here in the same way she was, but she still felt strange to not comfort a crying foal. She looked down for a moment, staring at her hooves. A snowflake hit her square in the eye. She jerked her head back and shook it, then glared into the storm. The wind had died down a little since they entered the village, but it was still gusting strongly. She shivered and danced in place, wishing she had boots, and a heavier vest.

"Wait, if this is something that happened eons ago, is this a ghost storm? Should I even be cold?" She asked out loud. She looked back at the fillies and noted that they were also being effected by the snow - which made sense for them, but not for her. She scowled and looked down, took note that she was leaving tracks in the snow just as they were.

"Argh! This is so weird!" She grumbled, sauntering over and kicking a fence post. Surprisingly, it reacted to her kick and broke off just above the ground. She glanced back to see if the fillies had noticed. They didn't seem to, were still crying. Raising a brow, Moonstruck made a snowball and threw it at them. It passed harmlessly through them.

"Maybe they _are_ ghosts." She muttered. "And the place is just stuck like this." And it was inexplicably the dead of winter, and she had no idea which way to go from here.

"C-c'mon, lets get moving, no use crying here in the snow." The older filly sniffled, she nudged her sisters to their hooves and started to walk further into town. Moonstruck turned and walked past them, back the way they had come. With luck she'd at least be able to find her way back to the creek, and her little cave, where - maybe - another night spent there would magically transport her back to the rugged foothills she'd been in yesterday. She made it all of ten steps when a blood curdling scream split the air. Moonstruck whipped around to see that it was one of the younger fillies that was emitting the horrified shriek; she was staring up at the sky in abject terror. Moonstruck looked up as well and felt her blood run cold.

There was a crack in the sky. Not a break in the clouds but a jagged crack, like ice, like a mirror. As she watched, it expanded, stretching across the sky as far as the eye could see, then splintering off into smaller cracks that crawled in delicate spidery lines from horizon to horizon. It stopped snowing, and the clouds began to churn even as a strange stillness settled over the crushed village. All three of the fillies were screaming now, and Moonstruck was surprised she wasn't screaming with them.

Below their high pitched keening was a deep, rumble - more felt than heard - and it was coming from everywhere. Deep beneath the earth, the sky, the very air, it seemed was trembling, shifting, pushing against itself in impossible ways. The biggest crack jerked suddenly, part of the sky pushing towards the ground, leaving a strange glowing shelf along the exposed edge that Moonstruck could feel resonating deep in her bones.

The fillies had had enough, it seemed; they bolted into one of the buildings to hide, leaving Moonstruck alone in the street to witness the world ending. Bits of sky started to flake away from the cracks, falling through the air, but never hitting the ground, which was shaking steadily now, heaving in violent spasms. Moonstruck stumbled back, away from where the sky was starting to glow, and the wind heaved back to life, blowing in every direction at once.

There was a truly magnificent pressure on her skull that was not unlike the strange arcane pressure that was building up around her when she was experimenting with teleporting yesterday. It did not hurt, but it was nearly maddening - she almost wished it _would_ hurt. Blinding pain would actually be a strange relief. She shook her head, and continued to back away from the broken sky and ground, quite convinced that there was no point in running, much less trying to fly away. Everything was coming apart now; there were strange facets in the sky, traveling along fault lines and reflecting the wan morning light in faintly octarine tones in a haphazard pattern of magical distortion. A beam of intense purple light shot down from the main crack and blasted a hole in the ground which caused a shock wave powerful enough to send her flying. Moonstruck fluttered her wings in a vain attempt to get airborne, only managing to right herself just in time to crash into the ground. She tumbled for several yards before coming to a stop at the edge of town.

Then she started sliding backwards. She looked back to see everything being sucked into the beam of light, which was also pushing the ground downwards as if it was some sort of gelatinous substance. She scrambled to her hooves and started running, but she could barely find purchase on the warped and breaking cobblestones. Flapping her wings did nothing, and she knew better than to teleport while magic was this wild and unpredictable. The ground tilted upwards, shaking her loose so that she was falling back into the beam of light, as if it had a gravity all its own. Moontsruck fought back panic, and managed to summon up a basic shield spell a few moments before she collided with the light.

* * *

A/N: Octarine would be the color of magic on Discworld by Terry Pratchett. I tend to borrow it for all magical things. Because it's awesome.


	9. Chapter 8

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Nothing happened. Nothing at all happened; something had to exist in some fashion for it to happen, but this was most definitely a case of nothingness. Nonexistence. A glimpse into the void perhaps, although even the presence of a void seemed to somewhat contradict that idea of nothingness in that if there was a void, there must be something for that nothing to occupy, and something or someone to witness it. Moonstruck wasn't sure where she, or the limited plane of existence that most considered reality had gone - or even how long it had been gone (seconds, years, centuries?), but it was certainly back. There was grass, still wet with dew, beneath her; and the sounds of birds; and a faint breeze she could feel brushing past the hood of her cloak. It was warmer than it had been shortly before the world broke.

No, the mountains broke. The rest of the world was fine. It was just here that had splintered, and twisted, and ceased to function the way worlds are generally supposed to. She blinked a few times and carefully peeked out from under her hood. A tiny spider stared back at her from a blade of grass. She lifted her head and looked around, noting that she was in an entirely new place that seemed no closer to the higher mountains that she had been. Heaving a sigh, she climbed shakily to her hooves, taking inventory of herself and the contents of her saddlebags. Amazingly she was unhurt, and nothing was missing. She shrugged out of her cloak and vest, clumsily folded them up, then placed them in her saddlebags after a few awkward attempts.

"That was kinda anticlimactic, now that I think about it." Moonstruck muttered, shaking out her messy mane and starting forward at a slow, unsteady walk. "Get to witness the end of the world, and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt."

A patch of white caught her attention on a nearby hill, she squinted at it, and realized there were actually a number of white blobs over there. After a few moments her heart started beating faster in her chest. They were mountain goats! Creatures who usually lived at much higher altitudes! If there were goats here, they just might know the way to the high country, and even beyond. They could be her ticket to the mountains!

She grinned and picked up the pace, determined to see if the goats were of the talking variety, and if they were willing to lead her into the mountains. After stumbling a dozen or so yards, she was forced to sit down as the world tilted ominously and her stomach churned and rumbled. She had forgotten that she hadn't had breakfast yet, which was probably why she hadn't recovered from the mornings disorienting excitement. Deciding that the goats probably weren't going anywhere anytime soon, she treated herself to a hearty breakfast, with some extended foraging in the general vicinity, then set off again once the shaking died down.

The ground stretched out before her at a gentle slope, the goats were perhaps a mile away on a neighboring hill, leisurely browsing among the lush spring growth. It was a picturesque day, all and all; warm, with a faint breeze, and a few white puffy clouds drifting leisurely overhead. The higher hills in the near distance had rocky summits, and she could see trails criss-crossing the landscape. If she didn't know better she'd say ponies had made those trails, but they were more than likely goat trails, for many of them zigzagged up inclines too steep for a pony to pass easily, or butted into rock formations where only the goats could pick their way up the sheer walls to reach the nutrient rich lichen and moss that grew in the crevasses and overhangs above.

The going seemed easy at first; she made it down into a little valley, then meandered her way up the next hillside, but when she reached the area where the goats had been, they had already gone. Or so it seemed, at first. Moonstruck followed their trails up over the crest of the hill to see that they were on the next hill over. Shrugging, she continued on her trek, following the trail down the other side of the hill, through a small patch of woods, then up the next hill. Again, she just missed the goats - they had shifted to the next hill after that. After the third attempt at reaching the goats, Moonstruck started to detect a pattern. Attempt number four confirmed it; she could not directly approach the goats.

She devised a plan over lunch, then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to circle around the goats to approach them indirectly. This did not work either, nor did pretending to accidentally stumble across them, nor did flying over to the goats - either directly, or by drifting almost aimlessly into their general vicinity. They would simply meld into the grass to pop up on a nearby hill. She didn't attempt to teleport to them until two days later, and she did so with great reluctance. She ended up teleporting to the next hill over, while the goats remained where they had been - which was not where she'd intended to go, but better than some sort of magical backlash.

It was toward sunset when she suddenly remembered a movie she saw once when she was a little foal. Feeling entirely goofy, she trotted up to the top of the hill she was on, stared long and hard at the goats, took note that there was no wind and that she could faintly hear them bleating to one another, and assumed they could hear her in turn, if she shouted loud enough. She cleared her throat, stretched up tall, fanned her wings, and tried desperately to remember all of the words:

"Baa ram ewe! Baa ram ewe! To... uh... your sheep? No - fleece! Yeah! Your fleece, your clan be true! Sheep be - er goats! Goats be true! Baaaa ram ewe!" She pricked her ears forward, and listened for a full minute for a reply, feeling entirely silly, and glad - for once - that she was out here by herself. The goats seemed unimpressed. They didn't even look at her.

She let out a weary sigh, settled back down into a slouch and flicked her ears to the sides.

"Worth a shot, I guess." She muttered to herself. Deciding to call it a day, she wandered down the hillside to search for a place to set up camp.

* * *

The next morning, she woke to several somethings milling around her tent. Moonstruck stared into space as those somethings let out various bleats, and baa's and other conversational goat type noises. Biting her lip, she very cautiously unzipped her tent and peeked out, half expecting the goats to vanish as soon as she did so, but they continued ambling around inspecting the ashes of her campfire, and eating the vegetation that grew around her tent.

"Good morning!" She said softly, poking her head out of the tent. A few of the goats raised their heads to look at her, decided she wasn't a threat, and went back to browsing. Moonstruck stifled a giggle and hastily packed her things. It was clear that these were not talking goats, but she might be able to get them to give up some of their secrets anyway.

Once she'd eaten breakfast, and had everything packed and ready, she settled in to wait for the goats to go wherever it is they went. And wait she did; it seemed that when not trying to evade her, the goats actually didn't move around much. They spent the morning browsing in the thicket that Moonstruck had chosen to camp in. In the afternoon they meandered uphill to nibble on the wildflowers that grew on the tops of the hills. And in the evening, they moved back down into the wooded areas to eat the tender new growth on the various shrubs and trees, then sleep when the sun went down. She was hesitant to wander far from the herd, so she followed them closely for the better part of three days; but the goats did not seem inclined to head towards the higher mountains, and instead seemed to be traveling in a big loop around the rocky hills.

Her initial hesitation wore off; she decided to range further from them, investigating their well worn trails alone, wandering well out of sight for a few hours at a time. The trails led to a number of places relevant to a goats interest, but they didn't seem to leave the area.

Except they did. She knew they did, she could see trails leading deeper into the mountains (complete with other herds of goats), from a number of points on the ground, as well as from the air, in the odd places she could gain enough altitude to get a clear view of the lay of the land. That was one of the many strange things of this area - she couldn't fly very high, the wind was intensely strong not far off the ground, and highly unpredictable, which made cresting some of the taller hills extremely hazardous. She'd mostly been using her wings to aid in scaling the more treacherous goat trails up various rock faces, and to glide back down to the herd to check in periodically. Not that the goats seemed to care at all.

As the days stretched on, and Moonstruck routinely failed to find a way to the paths that seemed to go somewhere, she began to sense that she had reached the point where she was merely wandering in circles. She was becoming quite familiar with certain stretches of trails, and of the impossible places they led, and the very logical places they seemed to avoid. Heading down a steep trail should not lead one back to the meadow from which they started some three hundred yards above.

The goats, for their part, seemed to know where to go, but they also didn't seem inclined to show her how they got to some of the places she occasionally found them. Whenever she just traveled with the herd, they never wandered far from where they had started, but when she left for the bulk of the day, only checking in occasionally to keep track of where they were, they would be quite a ways away from where they had bedded down for the night.

Occasionally she couldn't reach them at all, and would simply camp wherever she could, only to meet up with them later on some well trodden stretch of dusty path to follow them back to one of their favorite haunts. After nine days of this, she was loosing her cool, and decided - on an exceedingly foolish whim - to attempt to simply teleport to the distant mountains. It was safe to say that this did not go well. The resulting magical backlash left her curled up in a ball of agony in her tent with a horrendous headache for two days.

* * *

"So, I was thinking," she said a few days after her teleportztion debacle, ambling up to a doe who seemed to respond to her in a vaguely friendly way, as the herd meandered up a rocky slope. A muscle around her eye twitched a bit; an after effect of the botched teleportation. It'd wear off eventually. Probably.

"Maybe I'll just start a new queendom here and be Queen of the Goats."

The doe did not respond, but she never really did.

"I'd be a fair queen, keep predators away and all that." Moonstruck continued, nodding to herself. "No taxes to speak of, free health care. Probably build a nice water park for the kids. How's that sound, eh?"

The goat did not seem impressed.

"Eventually we could try to conquer the sheep. There's gotta be some sheep around here. Make some nice wool coats for everyone, right?"

The goat gave her an odd look. Moonstruck wondered, not for the first time, if the goats actually _could_ understand her, but were choosing not to speak the common language. Before she could possibly call shenanigans on them, something rather large sprang out of the bushes ahead, tackled a young buck to the ground and snapped its neck in one crushing bite.

Moonstruck felt her jaw drop open as the herd scattered, bleating in terror. _So much for keeping predators away... I had been thinking_ _more along the line of wolves though..._ _._

The creature was some sort of dragon as near as she could tell, although she'd never seen one like it; it was more like an archaic, semi-scaly, six limbed bird than the usual titanic monstrosities that occasionally terrorized ponykind. While very birdlike, it was only partially feathered; just its wings and parts of its tail. It was fairly small as dragons go, only perhaps twice her height, but lean and lanky, and roughly three times her length with a long tail and neck. It was a mottled green and brown, with intense amber eyes that were now turned towards her. She gulped and took a step back, trying to activate that flight-or-fight response all herbivores had in spades. Hers did not seem to be working at the moment, so she was stuck in stand-in-shock-and/or-abject-terror mode.

The dragon opened its jaws to let the goat drop to the ground, licked the blood from its scaly lips, lifted a brow, then scratched at its chin with one clawed hand.

"Need something?"

"I - uh... er... you killed the goat." Moonstruck said lamely. _Sure, the dragons around here talk, but not the goats..._

"It's a carnivore thing." It - he, she thought, going by its voice, and its horns (did the females have horns too?) - said wryly.

"R-right." Moonstruck grinned sheepishly.

"You don't have to worry," said the dragon, rolling the goat onto its side so that its belly was facing the beast, "I don't eat ponies."

"Good to know." She took a small step back and folded her wings, which she now realized she'd been holding open in alarm.

"There's been a lot of you buggers running around here lately. What with that pegasus from the other side of the mountains crash landing, and some patrols from one of your villages down in the lower hills, and now you - kinda surprised you're this far in." He grumbled.

Moonstrucks brain came to a complete standstill for a few moments as the dragon breathed a small gout of flame over the goat to remove the hair. The smell of burning hair, and goat-stink got things started again. She coughed and took a few steps upwind.

"You! You're the dragon who helped Sarah!"

"Sarah?" The dragon looked up for a moment. "Oh, the pegasus? I never got her name."

"Yes! You saved her life!"

"Mmm, I figured she'd survive," he said absently, nudging the singed goat carcass with his snout, "she seemed like a fighter."

Moonstruck's mind was racing as she scowled at the ground. This was all really too much to take in, she opened her mouth to ask something as she looked over at the dragon, saw that he was eating the goat, then promptly looked away again, fighting back a wave of nausea. Instead, she kept her eyes down and paced back and forth.

"So, uh, why did you help Sarah?"

"I saw her come over the crest of the mountains," He said around a mouthful of meat, "I've been hunting out here for years, and I've never seen a pony come _out_ of those mountains before - much less being chased by some sorta airship. Was kinda curious so I checked it out. She was hurt pretty bad. Didn't think it was right to leave her there after she went through all of that trouble to escape."

Moonstruck jerked her head up, looked over at him, saw all of the blood, then hastily looked up at the emerging stars. This was going to be difficult.

"Where did you find her?"

"Well, that's kinda hard to describe." He said. "Just this side of the highest parts of the range, kinda on the side of a steep canyon. It would take a few days to get there from here."

Moonstruck resisted the urge to look over at him again and risk giving her stomach another reason to twist itself into disgusted knots.

"You can get there from here!?"

"Yep."

She couldn't resist this time; Moonstruck whipped around and gaped at the dragon, goat guts and all.

"Can you get _through_ the mountains? To the lands on the other side!?"

"Yeah, I've been over there a few times. Why?"

Moonstruck was fairly certain her brain had just exploded. "Can you show me the way!?"

He stared at her a for a few moments, brows furrowed. "Why? It isn't a sunshine and rainbows kinda place like this side of the mountains."

"I know! That's why I need to get over there! I'm on a mission!" Moonstruck said, prancing in place. "Roanamia's been sealed off from the rest of the world for a thousand years, and from what Sarah said, it's pretty messed up in there! If the barrier is breaking down we have to know about it and make preparations for... well, we don't know what! That's what I have to go and find out! Plus all of the magical distortion out here is creeping outward and effecting a bigger and bigger area!"

It was his turn to gape at her. "You seriously want to go in there?"

"Yes!"

"In where that crazy alicorn queen is?"

"Yes!"

"And where Magmanus is sleeping?"

"Ye - who's Magmanus?" Moonstruck stopped prancing.

"Only the biggest, most horrible and powerful durgaklech of all time." The dragon snorted a laugh. "He's been asleep in there all this time. Youngsters dare each other to go beyond the mountains, but once we get older and gain some sense, we steer clear. We don't want to wake him up by accident or something. Big dragons like that are more territorial than a duck in heat."

Moonstruck furrowed her brow. "Durgaklech?" _Duck in heat?_

"Our name for the monstrously huge dragons." He shrugged. "I'm fully grown, in case you're wondering. We're one of the smaller types of dragons."

"Oh, I hadn't realized there was more than one species." Moonstruck shook her head. "I've really only encountered the huge ones."

The dragon rolled his eyes, and went back to eating.

"Well, can you show me the way, or not?"

He sighed. "You don't want to go in there."

"Of course I don't! It's just something I have to do. I've been out here for weeks trying to find a way through the mountains." She stamped a hoof.

He looked her up and down. "By yourself?"

"Yup."

He worked his jaw around a little. "I suppose... you did manage to make it to the goat trails. How'd you get here anyway? The lake by the sideways forest, the rocky path, or the village where the cataclysm is still happening?"

"The village, I guess? I just woke up here after things ran their course." Moonstruck grimaced.

He let out a low whistle. "That's the rough way." He furrowed his brow. then shook his head. "No, no, it's too risky. I don't even go past the second circle anymore."

"I can pay you! I'm a princess, I'm totally loaded!"

"I have no need of money." He said flatly. "Or gems."

Moonstruck bit her lip, looking away again as the dragon went back to his meal. There had to be something in it for him. If whatever evil, or magical disturbance that was lurking in there got out, it had to effect the whole world, not just ponykind. He had to know that, right?

"What if Magmanus is waking up, and that's why the magical distortion is expanding?" She blurted.

The dragon froze.

She donned her best poker face as she started pulling some choice bits of nonsense out of her proverbial hat, an odd thrill racing down her spine as she did so.

"I remember reading somewhere that really big, really old dragons can distort magic itself if they aren't careful to maintain their personal magical fields. If Magmanus is as big, and as old as you imply, he must be able to influence a massive area."

"I hadn't realized ponies knew that much about dragons." He said slowly, giving her quite the side-eye.

"We know enough to survive." She said, remaining cool on the surface; inside her head she squeaked nervously. She hadn't expected her bluff to turn out to be true! Unless he was bluffing as well. She shoved that thought aside.

"If he's waking up, wouldn't it be prudent to investigate, and warn your people? If Magmanus is still allied with Queen Lucena, there's no telling what they could do."

The dragon rocked back to rest the tip of his tail on the ground, and stared at her for a long moment.

"Okay, lets say I lead you in there," he waved a hand towards the crest of the mountains, and ruffled his wings, "and Magmanus wakes up. Whaddya gonna do then? You can't just come and go as you please in there. We'd be sitting ducks - as would anyone living in there."

"Pff, no problem. I'm a dragonslayer back home. I can figure something out." Moonstruck shrugged.

The dragon burst out laughing. He even fell over and rolled around on his back for a few moments, before rolling onto his belly and pounding a fist into the rocky ground.

"Oh, that's a good one!" He chortled. "I mean - I mean, okay! I get that you're an alicorn, and alicorns can be immensely powerful but - I mean, come on! Ha ha!"

He sat up and wiped tears from his eyes with the backs of his hands. "Even if you've managed to kill a dragon or two, we're talking about _Magmanus_ here! He's the size of a mountain! His fire breath can melt stone! He has a magic field around him that protects him from all harm, and his scales are so strong that most projectiles will bounce off of 'em anyway!"

Moonstruck wondered how much of that was just rumor, and smirked. "I happen to know a way around all of that."

"Oh, please." The dragon giggled.

"I do! It's rather simple." She shook her head, amused that the truth was less believable than the bluff. If Magmanus _did_ actually have some sort of powerful shield that might prove troublesome, however. She'd figure something out, if it came to that.

"And what would that be?" He snorted.

"Like I'm going to tell you!" Moonstruck laughed She waved a hoof flippantly. "Anyway, that's not the mission - it's strictly reconnaissance. Get in, look around a bit to see what we're up against, and get out. I shouldn't be there more than a month, tops."

The dragon gave her an amused look, still dubious, it seemed.

"What, do you doubt your own stealth? You said yourself that you've been beyond the mountains a few times already. Getting rusty are we?" She teased.

"Hardly." He huffed, turning his head to the side to look at her with one large, amber eye. She noted that he had round pupils, not slitted the way most dragon eyes were. At least, the dragons she had encountered. Even little Spike had slitted pupils.

"I was doubting _your_ stealth."

"Ha! I made it all the way out here without you noticing, didn't I?" Moonstruck snorted.

"True, but that's not exactly difficult here, and I wasn't looking for you. Over there, the mountains are under constant watch." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the higher peaks. "You won't be able to slink around without catching someone's attention."

Moonstruck smirked, hoped that magic worked mostly normally here and summoned up a quick, illusory disguise. Something that most ponies wouldn't notice, nor care about if they did.

"Not bad." The dragon said, taking a small step back and gaping at the large raven that now stood in the place Moonstruck had just occupied.

"Just a little something." Moonstruck shrugged, remembering to bob her head a little, then turn it to the side to look at the dragon with one eye, then the other. Illusions were only as good as the performance, after all. It wasn't enough that she looked like a raven, she had to act like one as well. It was really akin to puppetry.

"Hmm." He scowled and twitched his wings a few times, then flicked his tail in a very catlike manner. Most of his body language seemed to be an odd blend of feline and avian, but not in the same way that a griffon moved. Griffons almost had a pasted together sense to their gestures, whereas the dragon was more smooth, and fluid. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

"I suppose I can show you how to get in and out." He said slowly, after a few more moments of internal debate. "You're on your own for anything beyond that."

"That would be awesome!" Moonstruck grinned, dropping the illusion. "And I will find some way to pay you for your trouble."

"Eh, don't worry about it." The dragon shrugged. He offered a bloody hand. "The name's Joseph."

Moonstruck lifted a foreleg, glanced down at the goat carcass, the blood dripping from the dragons clawed hand, and hesitated. The dragon looked down as well, grinned sheepishly, then dropped his hand.

"Right, nevermind."

"I'm Moonstruck." She said, also grinning sheepishly.

" _Moonstruck_? You ponies and your silly names." Joseph chuckled.

"Pfff, what kind of a name is Joseph? I knew a cat named that once." Moonstruck scoffed.

"Moonstruck sounds like something a whelpling calls a pet beetle." He snorted.

They eyed each other for a few moments.

Moonstruck was the first to crack a grin. "Do you play cards?"

* * *

A/N: My Little Pony: Friendship is Giving Each Other Shit.


	10. Chapter 9

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Moonstruck poked her head out of her tent and blinked blearily at the thick fog that had formed overnight. She could barely see past the edge of the circle of boulders and shrubs that Joseph had advised camping in, and it was only about thirty feet across. Now that she thought of it, she couldn't see the dragon either. Last she saw he had been bedding down in a tangle of shrubs across the fire. Granted, he was well camouflaged, but she should be able to see him in his temporary nest. Wrinkling her nose, Moonstruck pulled her head back into her tent to eat a light breakfast and pack her things.

She emerged a short while later to collapse the tent and pack it away in her saddlebags. With that done, she ambled back across the clearing to poke her head out between two of the taller boulders, squinting into the gloom. "Joseph?" She called.

"Yeah?" Came a faint reply.

"Just wondering if you ditched me." Moonstruck said, heading towards the sound of his voice.

"Nah, just finishing up that goat."

Moonstruck paused. Right, he'd stashed the goat a short distance away downwind to eat for breakfast. She shuddered; traveling with a carnivore was going to take some getting used to. The dragon appeared a minute or so later, ambling casually out of the mist, licking a bit of blood off his talons.

"All set?" He asked, stopping a polite distance away.

"Yep. Dunno how far we'll get in this fog, though." Moonstruck scowled.

"It'll burn off soon enough." He started up the faint trail they'd used to reach the circle of boulders at a brisk pace. Moonstruck kept up easily, already feeling like they were making progress, despite the dreary weather.

"I'm gonna warn you right now," the dragon said as they continued to climb the hill, "it's gonna get confusing, and it's gonna seem like we're going in circles for a long time - and sometimes we really will be."

"Nothing new there." Moonstruck snorted.

"I'm sure you've noticed that the hills here are kind of a patchwork of different geographic regions, and times." Joseph grunted, then hopped over a rock. "Getting around out here is as much about _when_ you need to be, as _where_."

Moonstruck perked her ears up a little. She'd had an inkling that different regions she wandered in to were somehow stuck in a particular season, but it hadn't occurred to her that they were actually existing at a different point in time. "So, there's parts of the range that can be only be accessed at certain times?"

"Yep."

"Wish I'd known that earlier." Moonstruck shook her head.

Joseph chuckled. "It'd take you years to figure out. I'm still surprised you managed to find the goats."

"Yeah, that took a while. I could see them, but I couldn't get to 'em. Finally woke up one morning and the herd had decided to bed down where I'd camped, I guess." She chuckled.

"That was lucky. Those goats know how to work the time distortion here so they're never when they appear to be."

"Was that how they were always the next hill over?"

"As near as I can tell."

"Wow."

They were silent for a while, moving steadily up the hill, past the place where Joseph had taken the goat, and over the crest of the hill where the wind was strong enough to break up the mist and let cheery sunlight reflect strongly off the still fogged in lowlands. It was a lovely view.

They trotted along the ridge for a little while, then descended to a low lying plateau, and back into the fog. They followed a small creek for several hours before breaking off onto a goat trail to climb a rocky butte that eventually led them to an area Moonstruck was most familiar with. It was a narrow, rock walled canyon, in the center of which was a tall basalt formation around which the goat trails wound. It was one of the places where you inevitably ended up where you started. It was too narrow to take off safely here, so there was no flying or climbing out of the canyon either. And yet, trails could clearly be seen on the higher parts of the canyon walls, and she'd seen an odd goat up there once or twice. She hadn't been able to figure out how they'd gotten up there, since there was no indication anywhere that they had wandered up the canyon wall as goats are wont to do. There were no goats today, it seemed.

They ended up walking in circles for quite some time. First clockwise, then counterclockwise. Occasionally Moonstruck would catch a glimpse of something overhead, but she could never get a good enough look at it to discern if it was a goat, or a bird, or some other creature watching them.

"So, uh, are you lost, or is this some sorta weird ritual?"

"Ritual. Sort of. This one's kinda like a combination lock." Joseph grunted, spinning abruptly, and marching past her, back the way they'd come. Moonstruck rolled her eyes, but fell into step behind him without comment. It was like a foal had made up the rules of this place.

They came around a bend in the trail to see a path leading up the canyon wall that Moonstruck hadn't noticed before. Here there were plenty of signs of the passing of goats; tracks in the dustier parts, nibbled on shrubbery, and droppings.

"Ah, here we are." Joseph said, padding lightly up the path, careful to avoid the droppings.

Soon they were climbing steadily past the basalt formation and around the main bend in the canyon; past the point where the distortion usually sent her back the way she came (without realizing it until she emerged back onto the hillside that she first entered), and along the rim of the canyon as it opened up into a wider, shallower valley that spilled into densely forested lowlands below a trio of towering rock formations.

"We can fly here." Joseph said, as they reached a wide spot in the trail before it wound back up to the highest part of the canyon wall overlooking the woods below. "But only for the rest of the day."

"Sweet!" Moonstruck laughed. She crouched, and leaped into the air after the dragon, fluttering behind him as he worked his long, broad wings in powerful strokes to reach a comfortable cruising altitude. Moonstruck felt like a chubby little bird next to a sleek and powerful raptor - her wings were so small in comparison. She felt even sillier once they were a good two thousand feet up, and the dragon settled into a swift glide, his wings easily supporting his weight without flapping.

She scowled as she looked back at her own small wings which she most certainly could not use to soar with. She knew that ponies were not really built to fly - pony flight was an inborn magical ability, and the wings were really more of a way to control their flight - even alicorns had wings that were technically too small to fly with. She just hadn't seen it revealed so plainly before. Joseph was clearly built to fly without the aid of magic; large wings, tail feathers that fanned out from the base of his long, reptilian tail, and another oval set off the tip of his tail that seemed more ornamental, but also added an additional degree of control and lift. She wondered how larger dragons even got off the ground - surely they had a similar magical flight ability to pegasus ponies, but they were often so huge that she really doubted that was all there was to it.

She let her mind wander to other subjects as they made their way past the forest, and over the rock formations, then followed the course of a large river for the rest of the day. Moonstruck noted that they seemed to be moving more west, than north, but didn't question it. If they were trying to connect broken pieces of landscape to reach a pass, there was no telling what strange directions they'd have to go in to get to where they wanted.

They made camp at sunset, then set off on hoof the next morning; descending east into a surprisingly young forest, then zigzagging their way up a conical peak before turning back to the west again to spend the day trotting along an especially windy and rocky ridge. Joseph informed her that to get anywhere they had to stay on the ridge overnight, which did not make for comfortable camping conditions, and foraging for breakfast was especially tedious, as only a few stubborn shrubs, moss and lichen grew nearby. Moonstruck had run out of the travel bread days before, so foraging was absolutely vital.

Luckily they were able to fly again the next morning, so the rest of the day passed relatively quickly, and their next campsite had plenty to eat growing in and around it.

"What's with the bowl?" Joseph asked as Moonstruck shuffled over to the fire levitating a bowl full of greens and a few berries she knew were edible.

"Pardon?"

"Why do you always gather up your food with magic, and put it in that bowl before you eat it?" He inclined his snout at the collapsible bowl. "Can't you just eat it where it grows like other animals?"

Moonstruck blinked a few times and stared at the bowl full of salad. She honestly hadn't thought of that. It wasn't like she couldn't, she just... well she was a civilized pony, and civilized ponies didn't eat their food off the floor, or directly off the plant.

"I... don't know?"

"How can you not know?" Joseph scratched the back of his head.

"I... just don't. It's not something ponies do."

"Weird."

"Your face is weird." Moonstruck shrugged and plopped down with her bowl of greens.

Joseph chuckled softly and fussed with the pine needles he'd gathered for bedding.

"So we gonna play that card game, or what?" Moonstruck asked around a mouthful of dandelion.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure."

They scooted over so that the fire wasn't in their way. Moonstruck set her bowl down and pulled her cards out of her saddlebags, shuffling them thoroughly before dealing. Joseph was familiar with poker, but he'd never played much, it seemed. She was curious to see if she could read him as well as she could ponies, since _his_ unconscious body language was entirely different than a ponies. After almost a dozen hands, she had a good idea of his various twitches, but nothing solid; he was a terrible player, so he let most of his frustration show.

"Sorry, poker isn't really my game." He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head and let his cards fall face up on the ground in front of him. He didn't have anything, and they were playing draw.

"So... what _do_ you play?" Moonstruck asked, gathering the cards again for another quick shuffle.

"Well... my sibs and I used to play Go Fish a lot. Mom always played Rummy with us when it was too cold to hunt. Could never get the hang of that one, either." He scowled into the fire. "Why is this so important again?"

"I'm testing something. And Go Fish works." Go Fish certainly involved some bluffing and poker faces. She dealt the cards, then placed the deck between them, and lifted her hand to take a look at what she had. A whole lotta nothing, but that wasn't a big deal at the start of Go Fish.

"You can go first."

"Alrighty, got any three's?" Joseph said evenly.

Moonstruck calmly chucked her three of spades at him.

"Any six's?"

"Go fish."

He grunted and drew a card off the deck. "What are you testing?"

"Got any sevens?"

"Go fish."

She drew a card off the deck. "Just wondering if I can read you as well I can read ponies. You have an entirely different non-verbal language."

"Oh." He scowled down at his cards. "Got any jacks?"

"Go fish."

"And the point of being able to read me is...?"

"Got any nines?"

He chucked two cards at her. She caught them mid air and added them to her hand.

"Got any aces?"

She drew a card. It was a nine of clubs, which completed her collection of nines. She placed the cards face up on the ground in front of her.

"Honestly, I'm just curious. Being able to figure out what ponies are going to do is kinda vital for poker, and various other situations. It'd be interesting to see if I can read a dragon as well."

"I can see that." Joseph grunted. "Got any threes?"

"Keep fishing, dude."

He snorted a laugh and drew a card. "Well, I dunno what I can teach you as far as dragon body language is concerned."

"Quite a bit." Moonstruck said. "Got any fives?"

"Go fish."

She drew a card. "I already know you suck at poker, and your wing and tail twitches are dead giveaways for a lot of things."

"Should probably have to have you try to figure out what I'm thinking when I'm hunting," he muttered as he rearranged his cards a little. "got any queens?"

"Drat!" Moonstruck spat, handing him the three queens she'd collected. Joseph let out a triumphant chortle and placed the cards face up in front of him.

"And what about your pokerface, eh?" He grinned.

"This is go fish. Go fish is inherently violent." Moonstruck grumbled.

The dragon burst out laughing. "Ain't that the truth!"

Moonstruck abandoned her study after a short while, getting lost in the fun of playing a silly card game as the forest darkened around them, and the night creatures started their chorus. They wrapped up their game as full dark settled in. Moonstruck gathered up her cards and stared down at them for a while. It had felt like just another camping trip for a little while there; except Breezy, Patch and Windwake weren't here. Nor where there marshmallows, and a big jug of cider. She let out a weary sigh and stared up at the stars peeking through the trees overhead.

"You okay?"

She started, then looked over at the dragon, whom was already curled up in his nest of pine needles. She smiled faintly.

"I'm fine. Just... wishing I coulda brought my friends with me. G'night." She turned and stepped into her tent, zipping it up behind her without looking back.

"Night."

* * *

Another foggy morning greeted them. They broke camp slowly in hopes that the mist would dissipate, but it seemed especially stubborn today. After loafing around their little clearing for two hours, Joseph decided to go ahead and start walking.

"How do you find your way around out here?" Moonstruck asked as they picked their way through the dense fog and denser underbrush.

"I can sense the breaks."

"Huh?"

"You know how everything's fragmented out here, right? Broken up, mixed up?" Joseph said, turning his head to look over his back at her with one eye.

"Yeah?"

"I can sense where the edges of the fragments are."

"Seriously?" She furrowed her brow and pricked her ears forward. "So... you like... know how all of the pieces are _supposed_ to fit together?"

"Some of 'em. Mostly I know where the edges are." He shrugged.

She blinked a few times, stared at the back of his head. "How in blazes can you sense all of that?"

"There's dragon magic mixed into the cracks, and it flows in one particular direction. Once I figured out which way it flows, I started using it as a compass."

Moonstruck let out a low whistle. She'd never tried to sense dragon magic - in fact, she hadn't known there was a difference. She'd always been taught that magic was magic, for the most part. She briefly wished that she was better at meditating and entering trances; it'd be interesting to see if she could tease out the different sorts of magic swirling around out here. Wait….

"So, if there's dragon magic mixed in, what else is there?"

"Mmm, some very powerful pony magic, and a lot of wild magic." Joseph shrugged. "The wild magic is -"

"The magic of the land itself. That one I know." Moonstruck nodded. "And it's not surprising, all things considered."

The dragon grunted and nodded.

Speaking of magic, it occurred to Moonstruck that she hadn't encountered many instances where a pegasus or a unicorn could not figure out a way around the various obstacles and oddities the foothills had to offer. While flying was limited, a pegasus could still scale sheer rock walls with wing-aided climbing, as she had done on numerous occasions, and a unicorn could use self levitation to the same ends - something she had not tried, but she had wings and therefore did not need to. Then again, she vaguely recalled someone mentioning that unicorns simply had an easier time navigating than pegasus and earth ponies; perhaps being a magic-user acted as some sort of key, or pass-code to access parts of the range a non-magic-user could not.

She scowled. Magic-user wasn't the right term; pegasus ponies had magic; flight, and weather manipulation were both magical abilities. They lacked spell magic, which unicorns have. Another question popped up in her mind as she realized this.

"Hey, Joseph?"

"Mmm?"

"Weird question - do you rely on your innate magical abilities, or can you cast spells?"

"Uh, innate, I guess. I've never cast a spell in my life, but one of my sisters is a wizard." He looked back at her again. "Why?"

"Just wondering. I was told that only a flying spellcaster could get around out here." She shrugged. "But I haven't encountered anything that a regular unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony couldn't tackle - especially if they worked together."

"Oh. Well, there is a sort of anti-pony field. That might have something to do with it."

Her head shot up. "What!?"

"Yeah it's..." he paused, tapping his chin with one claw, "I guess it would be a sort of befuddlement spell, I think. All I know is that none of you ponies seem to be able to get past a certain point on your own. Ya'll just kinda start going in weird directions once you hit it, which seems to indicate there's actually some kinda spell at work to confuse you."

"It's confusing enough as it is - and why didn't you mention that sooner!?"

"You didn't ask!" He said flatly.

She glared at him. "And how do you know it's an anti-pony field?"

"I don't, really." He scratched the back of his head. "I just know that I can come and go out here without encountering any trouble, but the odd ponies I've seen try to explore out here wander around for a few weeks then turn back. None of them have stuck around long enough to figure out where all the breaks are - and I'm pretty sure your kind can find them too."

She worked her jaw around a little, turning that idea over in her head. He had a point, and he probably hadn't been around for some of the longer expeditions she'd read about from before the expansion of the magical distortion. Teams of survivalists had stayed out here for months trying to find a way through, but none of them could find their way higher than the foothills. If there was some sort of befuddlement spell in place, it would explain why none of the unicorns had been able to sense the breaks - or even thought to look for the edges between pieces. Well, aside from the lowest level of the foothills, where Dr. Amber had warned her about the sudden landscape changes. She wished she had a time machine to go back and ask him if he'd ever thought to look for the freakin' edges and use them as a sort of landmark, or compass, as Joseph did.

"Alright, that makes sense. So, do you think I'm effected, or is it too soon to tell?" She inclined her head towards him.

"Well, you made it to the goat trails, so you were probably already further ahead than any pony that came before." He said, starting off again.

"So the goat trails are pretty far in?"

"Er... not really, but they act like a central hub, so once you figure 'em out, you can get to pretty much anywhere you want."

"Neat. What about now?

"Now we're only a few days out. Well... actually that kind of depends on how the next leg goes." He tilted his head to the side.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Time moves differently over a lake we must fly over. It... well you'll see when we get there."

Conversation dwindled off after that, and soon the fog lifted, allowing them to take off. It was a short flight heading in the general direction of the lower foothills, and over deep, dense, forest. It was warmer in this region, almost balmy. Joseph signaled that they should land well before sunset, and they set down in a particularly unremarkable stretch of woodland. They walked for a few more hours, wandering along a faint trail that took them in something of a figure eight pattern, which they had to repeat a few times, then double back on, then cross over onto another faint trail, then loop back to where they started from, then finally set off on a rather improbable track that appeared where a jumble of boulders had been previously. Moonstruck knew she'd never get used to such complex path finding.

They stopped near sunset at the ruins of a truly ancient city. It looked like it had been there well before the founding of Equestria. Joseph informed her that the ruins were very old as near as he could tell, and quite deserted, and in no way, shape or form haunted. He also informed her that they would spend the following day there as well, for the airspace above the lake was only accessible at night. At first, Moonstruck was intent on exploring the ruins, but as she crawled into her bedroll shortly after sunset, it dawned on her that for the first time in weeks she could sleep in.

Which is precisely what she did. In fact, she didn't emerge from her tent until after noon, and spent the bulk of the day lazing about their campsite; only wandering through the ruins as evening approached.

They were very strange ruins, she had to admit. Something this old seemed quite out of place here. For one thing, she couldn't recall anything like this on the old maps she had seen - most of the settlements in the region south of Roanamia had been small villages - nothing of this scope. It was possible that the mapmakers simply hadn't known it was here, although she wasn't sure how anypony could miss it. The place was huge, although none of the buildings were over two stories tall, and were masked by many tall trees. A thousand years ago the ancient trees would have been much smaller, and the not-so-ancient ones wouldn't have been here at all. Despite its' age, and the amount of vegetation that was crawling up walls, and into buildings, the stonework was in excellent shape. With some pruning, and a few plumbing upgrades the city could easily be used again.

Any murals that might have graced the walls, and offered some clues were long gone though. There wasn't much statuary either; a few heraldic griffon and dragon sculptures remained here and there, and one particularly large building was flanked by rearing alicorn stallions, but the rest was curiously devoid of figurative work. Even chambers well inside and well protected from the elements were devoid of paintings and frescoes, and ornamental do-dads that would give clue to who had built this place, and why. Although there were many fountains now dry, Moonstruck couldn't find a natural water source, nor any evidence of above ground aquifers (underground water pipes seemed unlikely in ruins this old), so perhaps the original residents had simply up and left when their water source dried up. She knew there was a lake nearby, since Joseph had said they'd be flying over it, but there was no telling where, or when it was actually from, or if it had anything to do with the abandoned city.

Although she regretted spending most of the day being as lazy as possible and squandering a chance to explore more of the city, she was glad to get moving after dinner, and the sun began to sink below the horizon.

They broke camp, and started off into the city at a brisk pace. The lake, Joseph had informed her, had a narrow window of existence - they had to be at just the right place at just the right time to reach it. He led her on a fairly straightforward course through the city, keeping to wide streets, and moving steadily upwards in what she felt was a more or less northwesterly direction.

"Okay, it's hard to explain what happens with the lake," Joseph said as they reached what strongly resembled a warehouse district, "just whatever you do, don't look up or down for very long and keep your eye on the shore straight ahead."

"Alright," Moonstruck scowled, wrinkling her nose. They rounded a corner and padded out onto a waterfront. Or what would have been a waterfront if the lake wasn't bone dry. Or appeared to be bone dry; Moonstruck could smell the water quite clearly even if the stone piers extended out into a deep, empty basin that stretched far into the distance. The dragon came to a stop in front of one dock, and gestured for her to stay behind a line of ornate tile work.

The sun was out of sight below the western horizon now, but there was still a deep purple glow over the western edge of the lake bed. The temperature dropped abruptly, and fog began to ooze out between the buildings behind them. Moonstruck shivered, and watched her breath frost in the suddenly chill air. To the east, a blue-white glow through the tall trees signaled the rising of the moon. As the moon crept into the sky, a ripple appeared on what would be the surface of the lake, moving outwards from the moons rays and rolling silently across the empty gulf. And then, with the feeling of wind off the sea, and the contented sigh of a forest as the first autumn storm brings rain to a parched land, the lake was there.

"Cool," Moonstruck breathed, as Joseph grinned and stepped out onto the pier ahead of her.

"Try to follow me as close as you can." He said as he walked the length of the dock.

Moonstruck nodded and fell into step a half a length directly behind him.

"Especially when we get to the other side, it gets a bit tricky there, and there's no telling where you might end up."

"Right."

Joseph trotted a few steps then lunged off the end of the dock, taking wing in one smooth, powerful motion. Moonstruck followed suit, cantering a few steps and springing off the dock with somewhat less grace, and more frantic flapping, but adequate results. The dragon skimmed the lake for a few minutes then slowly gained altitude, leading her up to about three hundred feet above the calm, black water, where he settled into a swift glide.

Moonstruck fluttered along after him, enjoying the cool wind through her mane and feathers, and the faint and improbable scent of the ocean. The stars wheeled overhead, reflected perfectly on inky, undisturbed surface of the lake. She could see why looking up or down for too long would be disorienting, it was hard to tell water from sky.

As they flew, she found her gaze drifting upwards anyway, entranced by the clear, crisp starlight that seemed to be slipping overhead faster than usual. Actually... she made it a point to stare at a single constellation for a while... actually the stars _were_ moving much faster than they should. She blinked rapidly, and shook her head, absentmindedly looking down, only to jolt up a few feet in shock as the airspace in the reflection was teaming with all manner of creatures crisscrossing the lake in incredible numbers; geese, ducks, herons, ponies, dragons, griffons, hawks, crows, songbirds - even flying creatures that she couldn't even begin to identify! And behind them, above them, beyond them the sky spun, the stars blazed past, and the moon waxed and waned and... and.…

Moonstruck gagged, and squeezed her eyes shut for as long as she dared, fighting back the wave of nausea that was pounding against her stomach, and behind her eyes.

"Told you not to look up or down for too long!" Joseph chortled from up ahead.

"Yeah. Yeah, that was dumb." Moonstruck grunted, opening one eye a crack to make sure she hadn't drifted too far in any direction. She was a little further back than she had been before, and slightly high, but otherwise fine. She worked her way back into position, and bit her lip. She could still see the stars moving unnaturally fast, and it was not helping. After a little experimentation with switching between eyes, she settled on simply squinting so that she only really saw the tip of Josephs tail. It was a bit dangerous, but it'd have to do until the dizziness and nausea settled down.

Impossibly the eastern sky lightened in what she was sure had only been ten minutes, then the sun hove into view. It streaked across the sky over the course of a half an hour, sinking below the western horizon to give way to the moon, and stars. Three days passed in this fashion, leaving Moonstruck decidedly disoriented. The only anchor points she could cling to were the weight of her saddlebags, and the lightly bobbing tail of the dragon flying ahead of her. Thankfully, things came to an end as they reached the far shore of the lake. Joseph shouted to remind her to follow as closely as possible, then sped up to nearly a sprint.

The lake shore grew closer as the sun rose at an alarming rate, Joseph made a slight tail adjustment and gained altitude; Moonstruck labored to keep up, and watched him carefully, ready for any sudden change of course. He continued gaining altitude as they crossed over the border of the lake, leveled off for a hundred yards or so, then swept into a steep dive. Moonstruck gritted her teeth and followed, even though they were only a few hundred feet above the treetops.

Amazingly they did not crash into any trees, the forest seemed to stretch down and away in front of them, even though they appeared to be over a relatively flat area. Joseph flipped his right wing up, rotated onto his side, and slid around an unseen obstacle with wings outspread. Moonstruck did her best to imitate him, but discovered her less streamlined build wasn't well suited to such a maneuver and found herself flutter-galloping along the rock face that loomed suddenly in front of her.

The dragon rotated again, this time flipping upside down and sweeping into a shallow dive. Moonstruck pushed herself off the rock face and followed suit, finding herself inexplicably right side up and rising with the dragon into a cloudless blue sky. She shook her head, trying to find her equilibrium, then Joseph swept into a spiraling dive. She abandoned her quest for balance, and simply focused on keeping up, and not puking. Thankfully the spiral was short lived, and Joseph leveled off as an entirely new landscape rose into view; rounded cliffs that soared upwards, becoming taller, and more dramatic as they swept away into the distance. The dragon led her down to a clearing and landed lightly on a fallen log. Moonstruck was not so graceful, but managed to land without hurting herself.

"Whoo!" Joseph chortled, shaking out his mane. "That always gets my heart racing. One wrong move and SMACK, right into a rock formation!"

Moonstruck sprawled on the ground on her belly and squeezed her eyes shut. "Do I have to go back that way when I leave? Should I have been taking notes?"

"Ha ha, no. Leaving is easy from this side. I'll show you the trick to get out once we're on the other side. It isn't as difficult as that. More about timing, than anything."

"Oh good."

He let her lie in the sun for a few minutes (thankfully the sun seemed to have gone back to a normal speed), then roused her for the next leg of the journey, which would be on hoof for a while. They made their way along the base of the cliffs for half the day, which was rather relaxing after all of the dizzying flying, then scaled a rocky spire that jutted out into the forest from the cliffs. Moonstruck felt her jaw drop as they reached a saddle back in the rock, and stared into the river gorge beyond. It was massive; the river that ran through it was well over a mile wide and likely very deep, and bordered with deep forests of ancient trees. Far upstream, visible even in the hazy afternoon sunlight, were two titanic sculptures of rearing alicorns. Her mind raced back to the ancient map Celestia had shown her.

"This - this must be the Roan River! And that must be the Gate of the Twins!" She gasped.

"Is that what those are called? I just called 'em the big alicorn statues." Joseph chuckled.

"Yeah. I... I don't remember most of the story but they were from a much earlier age - something about a brother-sister duo who set about to bring balance and magic to the world, or something. It's basically an old mares tale - I never even knew these statues existed until Princess Celestia gave me a bunch of stuff to read on Roanamia. The Roanamians took the legends very seriously, and carved those two monuments in honor of the twins, and to mark the southernmost border of their lands."

Moonstruck swept her gaze across the gorge and tried to remember more of the old maps she'd seen, and various other bits of information she'd read, as well as what the mountains looked like from the observation deck of the Stirrup Springs museum. "This is the Roan River Gorge then... it used to run straight down the middle of these mountains, but I have no idea where it is now - it doesn't seem to be there from outside the foothills."

"Lets keep moving. Wanna get as far into the gorge as we can by nightfall, otherwise we might accidentally stray into another break." Joseph ruffled his wings. "We can fly from here."

"Right." Moonstruck shook her head, then crouched, waited a beat for Joseph to take off, then lunged into the air after him.

They spent the rest of the day flying swiftly upstream, keeping to the center of the river to avoid the ample bird-traffic along the banks. There was a much wider variety of birds here, Moonstruck noted; and more evidence of deer and other larger animals the odd times they flew over an island in the river. There also seemed to be more evidence of time passing here; every now and then she'd spot the remains of a pier on either side of the river; occasional vertical poles, or stone structures that indicated that something had once stretched out onto the river. Most of the wood was gone now. The village she'd encountered weeks ago had been stuck in a time loop of sorts, while the abandoned city Joseph had taken her to seemed to have been largely untouched by time. This place seemed downright normal.

They searched for a place to spend the night as the sun neared the western horizon, turning some of the taller peaks of the mountains dazzling shades of pink and gold. Moonstruck was more than happy to land near what was likely once part of a bridge that spanned the river in short sections; hopping from one small island to another. All that was left were the supports on dry land above the flood line. The bridge itself was long gone. It suited their purposes, however, in that it provided handy shelter and plenty of dry firewood in the form of deadfall that had ended up lodged next to the massive stone arches. Moonstruck was also happy to note that the foraging here was especially good. She was able to collect enough food for a proper feast, as well as a number of nuts and roots that would keep for a good long time. This allowed her to replenish her non-perishable foodstuffs for those stretches where foraging didn't turn up much. Joseph wandered off for a few hours to hunt while she set up camp.

"Too bad I don't have time to dry anything, or make some kinda flatbread. I think I remember how to make acorn flour." She mused as she finished setting up her tent. "Not that it's the right time of year for acorns."

She spun around and eyed the fire pit she'd dug, then launched a small spark from her horn into the dry kindling she'd collected earlier and arranged in the pit. The wood caught easily, and soon she had a crackling fire to warm the stone archway they'd chosen as a campsite. She stared into space for a few moments, going over her mental chore list. She'd already washed what needed washing; refilled her water bottles, collected and eaten dinner (as well as some aforementioned long keeping tubers and nuts), set up her tent, and started the fire. All that was left was to wait for the dragon to return so that she could retreat into her tent without worrying about leaving the fire unattended. Not that it could do much damage, it was very damp through here, the forest was almost impossibly green, and tramping around had left her lower legs wet and chilly.

Moonstruck yawned, then unzipped her tent and stepped inside. She spun around so that her head was facing the fire, then plopped down. Joseph was not usually gone for long; if he couldn't find anything to eat in a few hours, he tended to wander back and sleep instead. He'd told her once that he didn't want to stray too far in search of prey and possibly cross over into a sub-fragment that was in a slightly different time than the one she was in. The sub-fragments were often hard to detect, apparently, and while they weren't big problems, they could be big time wasters. Plus, she suspected, there just weren't that many animals out here, which meant the dragon likely had to go hungry quite a bit. He could, and did eat plants, but it wasn't his mainstay.

There weren't many animals in _other_ parts of the foothills, she corrected herself, crossing her forelegs and letting her eyes slide half shut. The gorge was teeming with life. He'd probably have an easy time finding some poor creature to eat. 

* * *

A/N: Progresssssss!


	11. Chapter 10

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

They set off just after dawn the next day to continue flying upriver. Signs of long abandoned structures became more frequent as they drew closer to the titanic statues at the far end of the gorge, and the river became narrower, and faster. At noon, they spotted a massive, sprawling city on the east bank of the river. It stretched from the waters edge all the way to the cliffs, and ponies had even carved buildings into the rock faces themselves. Joseph made straight for it, and led her down to land in the very center of town.

"Wow," Moonstruck folded her wings and spun in a slow circle, gaping up at the deceptively delicate spires, and soaring ramparts of the complex city. Most everything had vines growing over it, and weeds were pushing up through the cracks in the pavement. All around her the city was slowly crumbling away, being overtaken by the forest.

"I think... I think this is Pax Rona. It was a huge commerce hub. Goods from all across the world passed through here."

"Makes sense. Some of the houses up in the cliffs are huge." Jospeh nodded.

"Lotta money came through here."

"Alright, this'll be your last chance to gather food for a day or so." Joseph said, trotting towards a large thoroughfare that headed in the general direction of the cliffs. "Going _over_ these mountains takes some careful planning and timing, but going _under_ them is a simple matter of knowing which door to open."

"Under?" Moonstruck pricked her ears up. "There's tunnels?"

"Sorta. All of the crystal mines are still there, and some of the mines connect to the other side. It's considerably easier than trying to get to the few passes that go all the way to the other side." Joseph shrugged.

"Cool," Moonstruck grinned. "I've never been in a crystal mine. We don't have 'em in Trot. In fact, we don't mine anything at all back home."

Joseph led her to a section of the city that sprawled into a narrow side canyon, and to a semi-circular courtyard carved out of the cliffs themselves. A pair of massive double doors stood slightly agape. They lead into the cliff side building, and the mines themselves. Moonstruck noted that the carved outer cliff had a number of extremely sturdy pillars placed strategically around the arena; that the causeway leading out was especially wide, and that the road itself seemed to take a direct route down to the river.

"Bet they had some pretty big cranes up there."

"Probably." Joseph shrugged.

"And they hauled crystals and rocks and stuff down to to the river this way." Moonstruck said, squinting into the distance to see if there was some sort of harbor. There were too many buildings in the way, but she wouldn't be surprised if there were docks at the end of the road.

"Seems logical. Alrighty, it's best to start out first thing in the morning." Joseph said, spinning and heading back the way they'd come. "And it's best to camp a little further into the city. Creatures do come and go from the mines, and not all of 'em are friendly."

Moonstruck trotted after, intrigued. She hadn't encountered much of anything out here, aside from Joseph. Apex predator aside, he was very relaxed out in the foothills, completely unconcerned by the possibility that he might bump into something bigger and meaner than he, which seemed to indicate that he was the biggest, meanest thing out here.

"What kind of creatures?"

He wrinkled his snout as she fell into step beside him. "Some kinda gremlins, I think."

"Gremlins?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow.

"Yeah they're weird little creatures. Kind of like monkeys, but they're green, and they don't have tails. And they walk on two legs. They're very rude. And they stink."

"Weird. Are they dangerous?"

"Eh, only if they catch you on the ground. And only if there's a lot of 'em." He eyed her for a moment. "Rather, only if they catch _me_ on the ground. I dunno about you."

"I am quite capable of defending myself." Moonstruck sniffed haughtily and tossed her mane.

"Just checking. Anyway, I don't think they come to the surface real often, but, better safe than sorry." He shrugged.

"Right." Moonstruck nodded.

They scouted around the neighborhood below the mine entrance and found a townhouse that was still largely intact. They set up camp before they split up to find their respective meals. Moonstruck was able to cook up a sort of roasted veggie salad in one of the cast iron wood burning stoves in the house, which was the first hot meal she'd eaten in ages. If the plumbing still worked she would have taken a bath, but alas, it did not. It started raining as night settled over the city; Joseph returned soon after. It was kind of strange seeing him inside a house, the dragon seemed terribly out of place, although he was able to navigate doorways well enough, and didn't bump into too many things with his tail.

"Good call on this house." He commented as he settled down next to the fireplace.

"Yeah, the roof doesn't leak, and the chimneys weren't terribly clogged. Got 'em cleaned out pretty easy." Moonstruck nodded. She crawled into her bedroll which was a polite distance from him. She didn't bother with her tent; the house was quite solid, and she was able to move an ancient wardrobe in front of the lone window of this particular room to keep the worst of the drafts out.

She had assumed that it would be easier to sleep in a house than outside, but as the night stretched on, and the fire burned low and hot, she came to the startling and ultimately vexing realization that she had grown quite accustomed to sleeping outside, and that the ancient hardwood floor beneath her bed mat creaked every time either of them moved even a tiny bit, and the roof did indeed leak, just not in this particular room. And there was a musty sort of funk permeating everything and it was giving her a sinus headache as well as some congestion.

And then there was the dust. She'd dusted this room, but it seems the other rooms were determined to keep the entire house in a uniform state, and that state was dusty as buck. Even the slightest breath of air would send it wafting into the room to attach itself to her blankets, so that every time she moved she'd kick up even more.

Every time she was able to drift into a doze, some stray noise would drag her back to awareness. Mice in the walls, the ancient plumbing sighing, occasional thunder that echoed eerily through the gorge, the usual creepy-creaky noise that old houses make as they settle and shift on their foundations; every little stray noise would jolt her to full awareness.

"Can you sleep?" She murmured after several hours of sensory torture.

Joseph didn't even flinch. She lifted her head and squinted at him, envious of his ability to sleep pretty much anywhere - and deeply at that. One would assume he'd be awake at the drop of a pin considering he lived out in the wilderness and had to be alert in case something bigger and scarier than him was roaming around nearby. Heaving a sigh, she used her magic to lift a log off of the pile of firewood resting off to the side of the fireplace and set it on the dying embers. It caught quickly, and the fire flared back to life, greedily consuming the aged wood in a bright, cheery display.

The additional light didn't seem to phase the dragon either. Shrugging, she crossed her hooves in front of her, and rested her chin on one knee. Her eyes slid half shut as she gazed blankly into the fire, hoping the flickering flames could lull her back into a doze. She was well past hoping to sleep at this point, and she was fairly certain the sun would come up soon anyway.

It did not, it seemed she had only made it to midnight. When the sun did finally come up she was more tired than when she'd gone to bed the night before.

"The perfect state to go wandering through an abandoned crystal mine." Moonstruck muttered as she trudged after Joseph through the pouring rain.

"Mmm?" The dragon grunted, turning his head to look at her with one eye.

"Nuthin'." Moonstruck shook her head, almost knocking her hood back. She yawned, then wrinkled her snout as a drop of rain hit it.

The door to the mines was still agape, but Moonstruck was fairly certain it wasn't quite in the same position that it had been yesterday. There was no telling if the wind shifted it, or if some creature had.

Joseph paused and stared at the door, probably thinking the same thing she was. He glanced back at her, made eye contact. She lifted a brow. He gestured for her to stay where she was, then trotted cautiously towards the door, veering out of sight of anyone or anything that might be watching from within. Moonstruck made sure not to look directly at him, kept her eyes on the impenetrable shadow within the building. She didn't feel like they were being watched, but it was best to be cautious. She readied a few combat spells just in case, as Joseph edged towards the open door, nose to the ground.

After a few moments, he lifted his head, then edged it around the thick stone to stare into the gloom. She watched his wings twitch, then his tail flick. When he turned back, he waved her over.

"Well?" She asked as she trotted up, the clip clop of her hooves echoing faintly under the staccato rhythm of rain on stone.

"Smells like some gremlins came to the surface last night. They're gone now though." He said softly and squinted into the darkness. "They probably came out to see who was making all the racket out here."

"Guess we'd better be quiet then." Moonstruck grunted.

"Yep." Joseph slinked through the door and disappeared into the darkness.

Moonstruck cast a simple light spell that caused the tip of her horn to glow faintly. She was a little hesitant to draw so much attention to herself, but she also knew there'd be no navigating without it. Joseph trotted along without hesitation, although he did wander off course every so often to investigate a stray scent. After roughly ten minutes, they reached the correct doorway. It did not appear to have been disturbed in some time, Moonstruck could even see where Joseph himself had likely come and gone at some point in the past, unless something else around here left bipedal, three-toed tracks. Impossibly, the mines were even darker than the massive, nearly windowless building they'd just traversed. Even the faint light coming off of Moonstrucks horn shined like a beacon. She hoped it didn't act as one as well.

The first leg of their crystal mine adventure was down a very long staircase. She suspected this may have been a worker access way that the miners used when not hauling anything up or down, for it was too tight to fit any heavy equipment. As they descended, she started to get the feeling that her light was insufficient for the job, and amped up the illumination every few hundred yards or so. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, she had her light turned up as bright as she could make it, but it was only letting off a faint, nearly flickering glow.

"Uh... Joseph?" She hissed.

"Mmm?"

"Is it just me, or is it really, really dark down here?"

The dragon stopped and turned around to give her a weird look.

"My light spell is as bright as it can go, and I can still barely see a thing." She clarified.

"You sure? It's pretty dim." He scowled.

"Yeah, magic's working right as near as I can tell." It did feel like everything was functioning normally... aside from the part where she should have blinded them both by now.

"Dunno what to tell ya." He shrugged and started off again.

"Does magic not work right down here?" She asked. It was the only other thing she could think of - even though it went against her gut instinct. She lowered her head so that the light illuminated the ground in front of her a little better.

"Not that I know of."

She scowled. A few yards down the trail the light flickered out entirely, plunging them into complete darkness. She blinked a few times.

"Well, now what?"

"Let your eyes adjust?"

"There's no light down here at all, there's nothing to adjust to." She wondered if her magic would start working again if she backtracked. Not that her magic _wasn't_ working, as near as she could tell. Everything felt absolutely normal. She canceled the spell, and noted that that felt entirely normal as well.

"Are torches a possibility? Can we just go back?"

"Uh... yeah I guess. But there actually is light down here." He shifted slightly. "The crystals glow a little. Kinda forgot about it."

Moonstruck let out an irate sigh. "Fine, gimme a couple of minutes. If they aren't bright enough I vote for going back for torches."

"M'kay."

She stared into the darkness, not expecting much to happen, but after a minute or so, she did start to notice a faint glow. At first it wasn't enough to navigate by, but it gradually increased to the point that she could see fairly well, although everything was a washed out monochrome greenish gray. Except for the crystals.

She whistled softly as she looked around. With her light spell, she couldn't see much beyond a bright circle, but with the ambient light shed by the crystals, she could see much, much further. The crystals themselves were massive, stretching some thirty or forty feet overhead. They seemed to come in every color, and they glistened slightly, though they didn't exactly reflect anything. And there were hundreds - no, thousands of them, she was sure. It was like a forest of crystals everywhere she looked. "I did not expect this at all."

Joseph chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty cool."

"Are all crystal mines like this?"

"Dunno, these are the only ones I've been in." Joseph shrugged as they started off again. "But they're pretty impressive. We pass through a place where they did some actual mining - these things are too big to mess with, I think." He tapped one of the towering crystals with a talon as he passed it. It made a very strange ringing sound, something felt more than heard. It sent a chill down Moonstrucks spine.

They kept conversation to a minimum for the most part, Joseph would occasionally point out interesting things, and every so often they would pause to listen for any signs of gremlins. Moonstruck spent much of her time trying to puzzle out the magical disturbance. There was an abundance of magic, of this she was sure; when she went into a semi-trance to feel out the ambient energy she was bombarded with an especially heavy magical field thrumming through the crystals, but even the simplest spells failed to work. It was possible that there was actually so much stray magic flying around that the spells simply got lost in the shuffle, but she was fairly certain that the circumstances were not right for such a phenomenon. She recalled that an abundance of wild, uncontrolled magic would cause spells to misfire, but while there was an amazing magical field down here, none of it seemed out of control. It was just overwhelming.

She didn't realize how overwhelming until some hours later, when they encountered a massive crystal that had fallen across the path. Joseph did a lazy leap-and-flutter to reach the top of the crystal, then hopped down to the other side. Moonstruck had every intention doing the same, but had surprising difficulty getting off the ground. She scowled at the crystal for a moment, then back at her wings.

"Oh c'mon, I've only been on the ground for half a day, you can't have lost it this badly already." She grumbled to herself. She backed up a few paces, lowered her head, fanned her wings, then sprang forward, taking a few bounding leaps while flapping as hard as she could. She smacked into the crystal hard somewhere near the half-way point, and slid down to land roughly on her rump.

"Aw, c'mon!" She snarled.

Joseph appeared on the top of the crystal, amused. "Smooth."

"I can't seem to get airborne." Moonstruck grumbled. She stood up, shook off, then paused. "Wait... wait... I feel fine but..." She jumped straight up as high as she could and buzzed her wings like a hummingbird, but she could not gain any lift whatsoever. She landed roughly, then spun around. "I don't think I can fly down here."

"Um..."

"Is that going to be a problem?" She asked, folding her wings.

"It'll just take longer." Joseph said slowly, scratching the back of his head. "Why can't you fly?"

"Ponies aren't really built to fly," Moonstruck sighed, trotting to where the crystal had originally stood to see if there was a way around the monolith. Thankfully there was. "Our wings are too small, and our bodies are too heavy. But with magic, we can."

"Huh." Joseph grunted, hopping down off the crystal and taking the lead again. "I always did wonder how ya'll could get off the ground with such little wings."

"The thing is," She murmured, pulling her ears back "it's a deeply ingrained type of magic, it's in our bones. It isn't something that can be negated without removing our wings entirely. Which means whatever is going on down here is... " she shook her head. "I just hope it's temporary."

Joseph scowled into the distance. "Maybe I shoulda tried taking you through the passes after all."

She frowned. She wasn't sure if he was right or not. She was sorely tempted to take a long break to meditate and follow the magic to see if she could figure out what in blazes was going on down here, but she also didn't want to spend any more time than she absolutely had to within the disturbance. High level unicorns could go into a heightened state that she liked to refer to as "god mode" to access their full magical powers. This also allowed them to see magic, and weave intricate spells in moments that would normally take hours and perhaps a small team of spellcasters. As an alicorn, she was quite capable of entering such a state, however, she had never been particularly good at it. It took her a good fifteen minutes to achieve it, and she could only maintain it for a minute or so, which likely wasn't long enough to figure out what was happening. She couldn't do it at all if she was under pressure.

Her frown turned into a scowl as she made up her mind. She opened her mouth to suggest they take a break, when a few pebbles clattered to the floor a dozen or so yards away. She froze, staring into the darkness beyond the glowing crystals, her ears swiveling forward to pinpoint the sound.

Joseph came to a stop a few steps away, glanced at her, then to where she was staring. Something scrabbled along about the same distance away in the opposite direction, prompting Moonstruck to flick an ear back to keep track of it. Joseph stood up tall and sniffed at the stale air. She had the stronger hearing, they had discovered; Joseph had the market cornered on sense of smell, and low light vision. Between the two of them not much could go undetected. To the untrained ear, the cavern had fallen silent, but Moonstruck could faintly hear breathing on either side of them; the quick, hurried breath of something relatively small, and nervous.

"There's dozens of them." Joseph murmured under his breath. "We're all but surrounded."

"What do they want?" Moonstruck muttered.

"Dunno. Haven't run into this many at once before." He swept his gaze around the path, focusing on the spaces between crystals. "We should pick up the pace."

"Yeah."

They started off again at a trot, their senses focused on the small horde of creatures flanking them to either side. Moonstruck scowled and did her best to eliminate any and all spells from her usual self defense plan, focusing instead on un-arcane combat. Luckily, as a pony, she was naturally very strong, and even more so after running around out in the wilderness for so long.

They rounded a bend in the trail, then slid to a halt as a very large group of gremlins emerged from the gaps between towering crystals, all jabbering among themselves in what she assumed was their own language. Moonstruck spun around as scrabbling alerted her to the emergence of the groups that had been shadowing them. She took a few steps back so that she and Joseph were standing flank to flank. They were surrounded, and there were even more of them than she'd thought.

"I don't suppose they speak common?" She muttered.

"If they do they've never bothered around me." Joseph grunted.

They slowly spun in a circle, keeping flank to flank, sizing up the gremlins. They were not large creatures, most didn't even come up to Moonstruck's shoulder, but there were dozens - possibly even hundreds of them; their beady eyes darted between she and Joseph, and their strange, monkey like mouth's gaped open to reveal long, glistening fangs. She momentarily wished that she could challenge them to a round of poker, but shoved the thought aside to focus on their every last little twitch. She needed to figure out what they wanted, and/or how to scare them off quickly, with a minimum of fuss.

The gremlins shuffled around and chattered, never taking their eyes off of she and the dragon. They reeked of decay, and the mud one finds at the bottom of stagnant ponds, and there seemed to be a fine layer of dust wafting off of them. She hoped they didn't have mites that also liked to munch on ponies. Their body language wasn't terribly foreign, but it also wasn't helpful; they were generally excited, some were nervous, and many sat very still and focused, but their eyes seemed to pulse with an intense need. She strongly suspected that need was food; Moonstruck did not know how gremlins were generally supposed to look, but the bulk of them seemed gaunt, underfed.

"I don't suppose you know what they eat?" She asked, suspecting she already knew the answer.

"Anything and everything." Joseph growled.

"Figured as much." Moonstruck sighed. "Any bright ideas?"

"I think..." he paused to let out a low growl that rattled the stone beneath them, puffing up his scales and fanning his wings, causing some of the gremlins to back up a few paces.

"I think if we can herd them into a tight area I can take out enough of them at once that they'll decide we're not worth the trouble."

Moonstruck fanned her wings as well, and stomped her hooves warningly.

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"You set 'em up, I knock 'em down. I'll clear a path for you, and you make a break for it. There's a narrow spot about a mile down the trail where they'll be packed in so tight they'll have to slow to a crawl to get through. I can swoop in and scorch 'em."

Moonstruck grimaced. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"They're fast over short distances but burn out for the long haul - you can out-pace them easy."

"Seriously, have you lost it?"

"Well, do you have any better ideas!?" He huffed.

"Not really." She lowered her head and glowered at a gremlin who edged out of the pack. "Where do I go after the trap?"

"Keep running, the trail will take you to an old bridge that crosses a chasm. I'll meet up with you there."

Moonstruck nodded, even though he couldn't see. "Right."

"Ready?"

"Sure, why not?" She snorted.

Joseph whirled and spat a bright white fireball into the group of gremlins blocking the trail ahead. Some scattered, while others were incinerated on the spot. Moonstruck broke into a gallop as soon as the flame dissipated, crunching mightily over the scorched rocks, ashes and bones of a few of the less fortunate gremlins. She was dimly aware of the dragon taking off behind her to head down-trail to the narrow spot, and of the gremlins scrambling around in a panic. She hoped that perhaps the fireball was enough to scare them off, but they were upon her soon enough; surging behind her in a putrid green wave of matted fur, and high pitched squeals, their stench mingling with the smell of burnt flesh. She had forgotten, in their peaceful time in the hills, that she was traveling with not only a carnivore, but a fire breathing carnivore. A fire breathing carnivore that didn't hesitate to kill if the situation called for it.

She gritted her teeth as another band of gremlins sprang into view ahead of her, and she realized she was making a hypocrite of herself. She'd killed before. Twice. And now she'd have to do it again, likely many times over. With magic she could easily stun the bulk of them and move them out of the way. Without magic, she didn't have the luxury of mercy. Then again, with magic, she wouldn't have to bother with any of this at all.

The first wave of gremlins surged towards her with reckless abandon, blissfully unaware of the danger a charging alicorn posed. Moonstruck lowered her head slightly and barreled into them, sending them flying to the sides. She didn't use her horn to impale them - this was actually entirely counter-productive; it would at least momentarily blind her, and if she was unable to remove the creature from her horn with a quick toss of her head, her vision would be impeded until the corpse finally fell off. On top of that there was the extra weight, the possibility that she'd be hauling something that might be riddled with parasites and disease around; the slim chance that being impaled didn't immediately kill the creature which would leave her with an enemy attached to her face, and the part where it was just plain gross. Ramming them with her chest and shoulders - which were well muscled - was far better.

The next wave of gremlins were more cautious, swerving out of her direct path to attack her from the sides. She broke stride to kick out with a hind leg to warn three of them away, but as she did so, three more attacked from the opposite flank. She snapped that wing open and struck one neatly in the neck with the leading, bony edge of her wing. It snapped back with a sickening crack and slammed limply into a few of its fellows. The other two were further back on her flank, and were only pushed back by the less deadly part of her wing. A pair that tried to jump onto her back from behind were met with two hard hooves that sent them flying back along the trail.

She let out a startled yelp as at least four of the little buggers latched onto her flanks and wings. She opened her wings violently to shake two of them off, but the other two were on her back, digging their claws into her heaving shoulders, and clinging to her mane. Gritting her teeth, she closed her wings again, and flung herself forward, rotated mid air to land on her right shoulder, and rolled into a somersault, crushing them before she snapped her wings open vertically to propel herself off the ground and complete her roll mid air. Hooves on the ground once again, she kicked a few times for good measure, shook off, then resumed her low flight.

Moonstruck dodged to the side to avoid a half dozen gremlins, leaped nimbly over another half dozen, then slid as tightly around a corner as she could to cut off several more from advancing on her opposite flank. The next section of trail was narrower than the last, and was a good straight away into what looked like another sharp turn a few hundred yards away. Moonstruck put her head down and willed her lungs to take in more air as she pushed herself to maximum speed, ever grateful that she'd had to conduct so much of this journey on hoof.

The cries of the gremlins started to fade into the distance, as the speedier ones grew tired and fell behind, and the rest, perhaps, changed their minds about trying to make a meal out of a pony. Moonstruck grinned to herself as she thundered down the trail, glad that she'd made it out of all of that with only a few minor flesh wounds, and a low kill-count. She reached the next bend in the trail, slowed to take it at a less risky pace, and immediately regretted it. She could see the narrow part of the trail where Joseph was waiting, but she had to race across an open, gremlin infested section, and a series of hairpin turns to get to it.

Cursing somewhat louder than under her breath, Moonstruck dove into the fray, hoping that their numbers worked against them as the little creatures closed in from all sides. She barely had time to think; kick here, stomp there, open wings, dodge one way, roll, dodge another, run, smash, kill, run, run, run! By the time she made it to the other side, she was scraped and bruised, drenched in sweat, and covered in gremlin drool and blood and goodness knows what else. The gremlins were not put off by all of this, if anything it made them run faster. Or perhaps she was tired, and wasn't galloping as fast as she was before.

Finally able to put a little distance between herself and the throng of screeching, stinky creatures, she entered the part of the trail where the walls began to close together. The straightaway was shorter this time, and the turn was a switchback that sent her down a winding section of trail that seemed tedious from a distance, but was even more so in person. Here, the gremlins had a slight advantage, since they were smaller, and could corner faster than she could, but she was able to keep ahead of them just enough.

She reached the end of the switchbacks, and raced into the narrow canyon formed by especially tall and tightly packed crystals; the opening she needed to make it through looked to be barely wider than herself. The gremlins were close behind but now, finally, she knew she could out-run them. Pouring on one final burst of speed, she kept her focus on that void between the crystals and listened intently for anything other than the sound of her hooves on the crushed stone, and the quickly fading scrabbles of her pursuers. Thirty seconds stretched on to eternity, then she was galloping past the crystals into a wide, open space and deliciously cool air.

Moonstruck pulled her head up and gradually slowed into a trot, the sound of a roaring dragon and the screams of his victims providing a surprisingly soothing soundtrack. She maintained her trot for a while, keenly aware that if she stopped too soon, she wouldn't be able to manage anything more than a slow walk for quite a while. She made a mental note to ask Joseph if there was a spring down here, for she was in sore need of a bath after all of that.

"Speak of the devil," she coughed as he winged overhead. She hadn't expected to meet up with him for a few more minutes, at least. "Was just thinking of asking you something."

"Uh, two problems," Joseph grimaced down at her as he matched her pace, gliding above her, "whatever's messing up your magic seems to be messing up mine too, so I -er... wasn't exactly able to roast very many gremlins. And now they're mostly just mad and singed."

Moonstruck stared up at him. His magic wasn't working now? Could he not breathe fire? He did before! Did he use up what magic he had left on that first fireball?

"The other problem is that the bridge is gone." His grimace melted into a concerned scowl.

"There's alternate routes, but those will add a few days to our trek, and the gremlins probably aren't going to leave us alone."

She stared straight ahead for a few moments, ears pulled back partially in irritation, and partially to listen for the advance of the gremlins.

"Are there more gremlins out there?"

"Probably."

"Do they have rival clans or anything?"

"Not that I know of. They fight over food, but they have to actually secure food first."

Moonstruck scowled. They couldn't get the gremlins fighting one another while she was still alive. She struck that off her mental list of Possible Ways To Distract The Gremlins. "Is there anything bigger and meaner in here?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, a balrog or something."

"A what?"

"Nevermind." She shut her eyes and shifted her jaw around. "Lets go for the bridge then."

"It's a pretty big gap, I don't know how you can jump it without wings."

She nodded grimly. "There's still something I haven't tried yet."

Joseph circled back around to check on the horde's progress as Moonstruck made her way to the bridge, glad that she could trot for very long distances even after running so hard for so long. The trail wound its way around a rocky tor, and passed under a section of the bridge that was still intact. When she reached the top, she made her way out to the edge of the bridge to test its strength, and stare across the fifty foot gap between this side, and the other. It was a stone bridge likely carved out of the living rock, and it spanned a gorge that was only two hundred feet wide, but incredibly deep as near as she could tell. She swished her tail in irritation as Joseph landed behind her a short distance away.

"They're about five minutes behind. Maybe seven - the grade's pretty steep back there."

"I'm gonna need ten." Moonstruck grunted, spinning and heading across the carved stone platform to the opposite edge. She was going to need as much running room as possible.

"I... guess I could keep them busy that long." Joseph grimaced, trotting after her. "I think the main reason they were afraid of me is they were afraid of my fire breath Without that... well, guess it's a good thing I usually just flew most of the way through here..."

Moonstruck grunted and nodded. Reaching the edge, she spun around to face the broken bridge, and let out a shaky breath. She planted her hooves and tilted her head down, closing her eyes.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna fly across that gap."

"Was afraid you were gonna say that." She could practically hear him frown.

"It takes me ten minutes to enter a trance and access all of my powers. If I can do that, I might be able to blast through whatever's screwing up magic down here just long enough to make it across." Normally it took fifteen, but she didn't have time for that.

"And if you don't...?"

"I'll fall to my death, of course." Moonstruck sighed. "I'm dead either way, may as well go out doing something really stupid."

"Right. I'll uh, try to keep that from happening." She heard him shuffle awkwardly. "Well, good luck then. I'll see what I can do to keep those guys busy."

As soon as he was away she shut out the world; ignored the sounds of the advancing gremlin horde, let the cool subterranean air soothe her wounds to numbness. She needed complete concentration to reach deep down inside herself to pull her full abilities to the surface, and for once, she was able to do it quickly. As before, she discovered that her magic was there, ready to use, but it didn't seem to be able to manifest itself. One way or another, she was about to discover why. Glad to see that her personal magic field was unharmed, she plunged deeper, into her own heart and mind for the path to the core of her being, where her very essence thrummed with near cosmic power. This was the gift to alicorns, a power present in all ponies, but expanded infinitely in their near-immortal brethren. She feared it may take all of it to pull of this simple trick. She reached towards the proverbial box that held that power and opened the lid.

"Mooney! Whatever you're gonna do, do it now!"

She opened her eyes as awareness returned, realizing that Joseph had been shouting at her for a few minutes, and that the gremlins were practically up to the top of the tor. It didn't matter now though, she could see everything, the way magic twisted through this place, how it didn't seem to flow in any logical way, and that it seemed to be trying to leach every last ounce of stray power off of her. It was the crystals - the crystals were absorbing all of the magic, but it couldn't drain her of magic if she didn't use magic, which was why spells would be whisked away as soon as she cast them, but her energy was unharmed, safely contained within her personal magical field.

Moonstruck sprang into a dead run, keeping her eyes focused on her goal and her mind on task. Flight. She needed to use her wings for just a few seconds, just long enough to get her across that gap. It wasn't spell magic, it was enhancing an inborn ability that had been overwhelmed by the amount of chaotic power surging through the mines. It should work - it _had_ to work. There was no turning back, she could only go forward now.

She reached the end of the broken bridge and threw herself over the canyon, flexing her wings downward, and pumping all of her magic into them, willing them to carry her over the gap and to the other side. Time slowed like she'd never experienced it before. It seemed to take ages to push her wings downward, then partially fold them as she pulled them back; opened them at the top of their arc, only to push them down again. She could feel every last little vortice of air as it whirled past her feathers, and the magical extensions she was using to lengthen and broaden her wingspan. She could see the magic seeping off of her, being sucked towards the various crystals in the area, but there was too much for them to absorb quickly, leaving her with enough magic to inch across the void with glacial determination.

Everything sped up as she reached the other side and promptly lost control of her spell. She flailed, dropped out of the air, and rolled down the steeply sloping span of broken bridge to the space below where a dozen tall crystals greedily lapped up her magic. Moonstruck gasped and tried to cancel her spell and clamp down on her power, but the dam was broken, and nothing could stop the magic from leaking out in violent spasms. She was letting out more power than she knew she even had; her vision flickering between normal, and being able to see every last strand of magic in the cave. Pain exploded behind her eyes, reverberating back and forth between her ears and echoing down her spine which made her twist, and contort, and kick out in a purely instinctual attempt to do something - _anything_ about the pain.

Joseph landed nearby, but she shouted at him to stay back as a bolt of raw magic arced off of her and struck a crystal. The crystals flared especially bright, her vision lingered in the magical realm for a good thirty seconds where she was able to see Josephs very magical make-up, and the way it interacted with the energy surrounding him. It would have been fascinating, if she could think.

Her vision flickered again, the crystals around her flared especially bright, then there was no light at all.

* * *

A/N: Always a mistake to cut through the mines.


	12. Chapter 11

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Joseph took a few startled steps back as Moonstruck writhed on the ground, magical lightening arcing back and forth between she and the crystals. He had heard that some unicorns had some sort of strange powered up state, but he'd never expected erie white eyes and... this. He suspected this wasn't normal. He felt a disturbing pressure building up between his ears as Moonstruck lifted off the ground to hover in space, the lightening arcing further and further away from her. All around him, he could faintly hear the crystals squealing as if something was grinding against them. Then the crystal standing next to him cracked. Then another, and another, and... he decided that leaving would be a good idea. He turned tail and lunged into the gorge, diving as deep as he dared as crystals began exploding into thousands upon thousands of razor sharp shards. Luckily he was only hit by a few, for he was just clearing the blast radius as they went.

He waited for a few minutes, gliding along in the darkness, worry eating at his insides. The cavern had settled into a deep, profound silence, even the normally vocal gremlins had ceased their incessant chatter. They had likely fled when the crystals started exploding.

Deciding it had been long enough, he pulled up, rose out of the gorge, then swept around to see what, if anything, was left of the alicorn. He really should have tried going over the passes; usually this way was the most stable, but he hadn't counted on the gremlins being half starved, or the bridge being out. Or for her to do something really, incredibly stupid. He couldn't blame her for it - going back wasn't an option, and going around the gorge wasn't exactly a viable plan either with the gremlins hellbent on a nice pony meal.

A thick cloud of magical smoke still lingered over the area, forcing him to land a short distance away and investigate on foot. The crystals for a good five hundred yard radius had all shattered, and everything beyond that had cracks running through them. It was considerably dimmer here as a result. Thankfully, he could still see clearly enough to avoid anything dangerous. As he reached the epicenter, he noted that there was still a bit of stray magic arcing here and there, flashing bolts of miniature lightening that threw the area into moments of harsh light, before plunging it back into deep shadow. It was hard for his eyes to stay adjusted.

A breeze kicked up, blowing away the thicker smoke to reveal a bruised and battered alicorn lying in the center of a small, perfectly round crater. Joseph padded cautiously over to the crater, slid down to the center where the pony was sprawled, then gently nudged her with one hand. Aside from a small spark that arced between them, nothing happened.

"Mooney?" He asked, nudging her shoulder again. He leaned his head close to her chest, noting that she was breathing raggedly, but had a strong heartbeat. He took note of her injuries, a pang of guilt tugging at his gut; he really _should_ have tried for the passes. They were difficult, but nothing like this.

He lifted his head again and looked around. They couldn't stay here, but he had no idea how long it'd be before she woke up - if she woke at all. Working his jaw around, he let out a sigh and worked a hand beneath her shoulder to test her weight. The pegasus - Sarah - hadn't weighed much. In addition to being underfed, he was pretty sure she'd had hollow bones, so she had been relatively easy to carry down off the mountain. Moonstruck wasn't a mountain pegasus, whom tended to be smaller than your standard pegasus, and she was larger still than her hornless brethren. She most certainly weighed more. A lot more. Too much to fly with. Which meant he could only carry her so far before the extra weight would prove disastrous.

Sighing, he carefully pulled her saddlebags off, placed them over his own shoulders, then stooped to scoop her up onto his back as well. Luckily, he knew of a place to camp before the landscape became too tedious.

* * *

Only the highest level unicorns could pick up on a sudden surge of magic, and the magical disturbance had to be relatively near by. Alicorns were better at detecting such things, and they could do so from quite a distance away if the surge was powerful enough to send ripples across the worlds magical field. Pinpointing the origin of the surge was more difficult, and could require hours of meditation to trace the power back to its source, provided the arcane ripples lingered long enough for such careful searching.

For Princess Luna, such lengthy searches were unnecessary. The Dreaming was in some ways a mirror of the waking world; but instead of being populated by living creatures, it was where those creatures thoughts, dreams, and emotions played out unhindered by physical and even magical limitations. It was a dimension unto itself, an unbridled, wild space of endless creation and possibility. Even a faint magical ripple in real time was like a beacon in the Dreaming. Instinct generally guided her to what nightmares she needed to soothe, or problems to be worked out within the infinite sandbox of Dreaming, but larger magical disturbances could offer glimpses of what was happening in real time. In this case, the ripple was more of a tsunami.

Luna startled awake, her sleep mask sliding off her face as she sat up in bed and stared wide eyed at nothing in particular as a scattered, fractured stream of raw power, images and emotions flashed across her minds eye, almost too quickly to comprehend. Her abilities allowed her to slow things down to more manageable speeds, but even then it was a confused, tangled mess and it was all centered around...

She shook her head, noted that the sun was still shining brightly at the edges of the heavy curtains drawn tight across her windows, then slid out of bed. She needed to speak with Celestia at once. Surely her sister had felt the disturbance, and likely so did every other alicorn in the world.

Luna trotted out of her room and down the private stairs that connected her chambers to her sisters, then opened the door to Celestias office without knocking. Celestia was seated at her desk, staring off to the north east, a cup of coffee levitating in front of her, tilted slightly as if she'd been about to take a drink. There was no spilled coffee anywhere, so the cup must not have been particularly full. She barely twitched an ear when Luna stepped into the room.

"What did... what did Princess Moonstruck just _do_?" Celestia murmured, not turning to look at her.

"I am not sure." Luna scowled, closing the door behind her."I... the images are very fractured."

She flicked her eyes back and forth as if she was reading something, but what had her attention was in her mind, not sitting in front of her. Massive crystals, a dense magical field, fear, pain, an immense amount of power - and what direction was the disturbance actually coming from? It seemed to be coming from multiple places at once, but at the same time it had a clear focal point. Princess Moonstruck had disappeared from the Dreaming the moment she had set hoof in the Broken Mountains; all of the echoes and confusion could very well be because of the distorted magic she was masked within. But her moment of distress were not the only ones that had broken through.

"I think... I think Moonstruck breached the shield around Roanamia."

"What?" Celestia breathed."The shield still stands? But we destroyed it – we had to have destroyed it! Nothing could withstand _that_ much power!"

Luna looked up at her. Celestia had set her coffee down and was staring at her with wide, worried eyes.

"It stands. Even after Moonstruck got through it."

"H-how? How could it still – and how could she - ?" Celestia shook her head.

"I do not know." Luna scowled, reviewing the images again. "All I know is that for over a thousand years Roanamia has not existed in the Dreaming, but for a moment, it was there, clear as the winter moon."

"What did you see?"

"Suffering." Luna pressed her lips into a thin line. "So much suffering."

They were quiet for a time. She continued replaying the few images she had in her mind.

"Sarah was able to get through the shield. It stands to reason that Moonstruck could too. There may be gaps, or flaws that can be exploited or stumbled through."

She frowned. That didn't seem right. What little input she had from Moonstruck herself seemed to indicate that she wasn't trying to breach the shield, but do something else. Moonstruck shouldn't even know there was a shield there – Luna herself didn't know there was still a shield until moments ago. Sarah didn't seem to know there was a shield either, and Luna certainly hadn't noticed any sort of magical disturbance when the pegasus emerged on this side of the Broken Mountains.

"I think Moonstruck may have inadvertently damaged the shield somehow; disrupted it just enough to allow me to get a glimpse of Roanamia in the Dreaming."

Celestia leaned back on her floor cushion and scowled. "So, one can walk into Roanamia, but no dreams can enter or exit."

"So it would seem."

A whiff of green smoke arced into the room, then turned into a sealed scroll with a faint poof. Celestia unrolled it, giving it only a cursory glance.

"I fear it may be time to start rallying our forces."

"I suspect some of the forces will rally themselves." Luna smirked.

"If I don't respond promptly, she certainly will." Celestia smiled faintly, then frowned at the scroll. "What _do_ I tell her?"

Luna bit her lip. There wasn't much _to_ tell. And as it was, Twilight Sparkle was still a ways out from having any official duties as a princess. As a wielder of the Elements of Harmony she had a certain duty to protect Equestria, but without solid information, or even any idea when solid information might be delivered, there wasn't much she and her friends could do. Well, there was _one_ thing.

"What does she know about shield spells?"

"Mm, good idea." Celestia nodded, then selected a fresh sheet of paper, and lifted a quill from its inkwell. Though the sisters were infinitely powerful, there were some aspects to magic they simply were not knowledgeable about. Shield magic was a vast, diverse field, and it was possible that Twilight Sparkle could find something that might shed light on whatever was currently keeping Roanamia isolated.

"It may be prudent to send her the latest updates from the team studying the distortion outside the Broken Mountains."

"Yes, now that we know there is a shield in there somewhere, it may untangle things, a little." Celestia agreed without looking up from what she was writing. "And I will send the same information to Shining Armor, since he _is_ a shield expert."

Luna nodded absently and let her gaze drift to the nearest window, and the view beyond it. It would be a busy night for her, she sensed.

* * *

"Again."

"I can't!"

"You can. You just have to focus, Moonstruck."

"I _am_ focusing!" Moonstruck huffed, turning around and glaring up at her mother, whom was pacing along the edge of the room. The grand audience chamber was empty, say for them. No lights were on, but sunlight filtered in from the high, stained glass windows, leaving the vast room in a patchwork of cool shadows and diffuse, multicolored light.

"I can't maintain any connection with my power, okay! And it takes me so long to even find it that I'm too tired to try to access it when I do!" She sighed, straightening up out of the crouch she'd slid in to while trying to plumb the depths of her magic.

Astromida paused and regarded her with a scowl that was somewhere between irate, and concerned.

"Moonstruck, you are an alicorn and a princess. It is imperative that you be able to access your full power - "

"You think I don't know that!?" Moonstruck snapped, whirling to face the tall, elegant mare. "Really? I know it better than anypony!"

Astromida tilted her muzzle downwards and pressed her lips into a thin line. "I know this has been difficult for you, but I assure you, that once you learn to silence your mind, you will be able to - "

"To what?" Moonstruck stamped a hoof. "What? I don't even have my cutie mark yet, so what are you expecting me to do? Huh?"

Her mother jerked her head back, then pulled her ears back slightly. "It's perfectly alright to be a late bloomer, and alicorns often get their cutie marks later than other ponies -"

Moonstruck let out a long, cold laugh. "Tell that to Starshine. Or Acorn, even though he doesn't have wings. I'm nearly an adult, Mom. I should have gotten my mark years ago, and you know it. I'm the oldest blank flank in the queendom."

Astromida closed her eyes and nodded slightly. "You should still be able to access your full powers though."

Moonstruck snorted and rolled her eyes. "It would have been better if Acorn was born an alicorn."

"What?" Astromida asked in a breathy whisper, taken aback.

"He's actually got ambition, and useful abilities," Moonstruck continued, looking down, the bitterness draining from her voice, leaving her sounding as hollow as she felt. "The only thing I'm good for is playing cards, and pulling pranks on everypony. Being an alicorn is overkill for that."

"Moonstruck..." Astromida murmured, lowering her head and lifting a foreleg slightly.

The main doors to the audience chamber burst open, and Captain Whirlwind ran in out of breath.

"Your Majesty! A dragon - a massive dragon - is attacking Whinnyford village! Sir Mighty Oak is already there!"

Moonstruck and Astromida looked over at the captain of the guard in unison. Astromida, then looked back at Moonstruck and scowled.

"Stay here and look after Acorn. Your father and I will deal with this."

"Want me to let Starshine know?" Moonstruck sighed. She never got to go to these sorts of things, although with her powers being locked away as they were, she wouldn't be much use.

"Yes, I may need her help." Astromida said slowly, then grimaced. "It will take her some time to fly to Whinnyford though."

Starshine was powerful, but she hadn't mastered long distance teleportation yet. Or teleportation in general, really. While Moonstruck was a competent teleporter, long distances still eluded her. However, she had helped her father set up an emergency nodestone network that allowed her to cheat a little.

"Right."

Astromida nodded then sprang into the air, fluttering up to the gallery above, and through an open door, likely taking a direct route to the northeast tower, where their magical communication devices and long distance teleportation nodes were set up. Moonstruck trotted in the opposite direction to track down Acorn, then give Starshine a call at school. Hopefully she was in her dorm room when Moonstruck called her.

She located Acorn, then high tailed it up to the northeast tower with her brother in tow. It was unlikely that the dragon would make it all the way to Trot City, but in case it did, even with her limited abilities she was her brothers – and the cities - best defense.

"Are they gonna be okay?" Acorn panted as they trotted up the stairs. Well, Moonstruck trotted, Acorn was too short to make it up the stairs quickly so he was perched on her back.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. Mom's probably already there, and Dad's pretty powerful as regular unicorns go. That dragon doesn't stand a chance!"

"I hope Starshine can make it there in time, so that Mom doesn't have to fight it alone." Acorn said solemnly.

"She won't be alone, she's got a whole army to help her out." Moonstruck shook her head. They were almost to the top.

"Yeah, but she doesn't like to put them in danger if she doesn't have to."

Moonstruck scowled. "Yeah, but it'll take a team to defeat the dragon."

Acorn didn't respond. He knew Mom as well as she did, and wasn't buying it. Astromida would most likely take on the dragon by herself. She was stubborn like that. They reached the top of the stairs. Moonstruck magicked the door open and trotted inside. The military ponies were communicating with the Winnyford team from their own offices, so the tower was empty.

Acorn hopped off her back and began fiddling with a series of gems embedded in a stone slab, while Moonstruck ambled over to one of a series of crystal balls. She powered up her magic, and touched the tip of her horn to the orb. After a few moments, an image of her elder sister appeared in the air above the orb.

"Moonstruck?"

"Hi. Yeah, there's a dragon attacking Winnyford village. Mom and Dad and the guard are over there dealing with it, but Mom wanted you to fly over just in case she needs some serious back up."

"I have class in a few minutes..." Starshine bit her lip and looked away from the orb in her dorm room for a few moments. "I suppose this is more important, my professor will understand. Okay, I'm leaving right now, please have Father tell Mother that I will be there as soon as I can."

"Will do." Moonstruck saluted as the projection faded away.

"Hi Dad!" Acorn chirped as a life sized projection of the gold and green unicorn appeared in the center of the room. Acorn was the spitting image of their father, though Mighty Oak's coloration was somewhat faded, and his mane was mostly gray and white, nowadays. He was still mighty however, easily one of the largest ponies Moonstruck had ever seen. Mother was taller than him by quite a bit, but she was lean and willowy; Mighty Oak was built like a tank.

"Hi Acorn. Um... why are _you_ calling?" Mighty Oak said, half turning to look into the orb on his end of things.

"'Cause Mooney wasn't paying attention!" Acorn laughed.

"It's alright, I was gonna call you next." Moonstruck said, stepping into range of the communication orb. "Starshine says to tell Mom that she's on her way."

"Oh good." Mighty Oak nodded. "I will relay the message. Not that she'll get here in time for anything..."

"I know, right?" Moonstruck chuckled.

"Shush!" Mighty Oak hushed, trying and failing to hide a grin. He stepped out of orb range. Moonstruck ambled over to the control panel and began rearranging the crystals to pull up several other projections. In situations such as these, her father would send out small orbs and either leave them suspended in fixed positions, or enchant them to follow a particular pony to act as a recording device, a way to communicate quickly, and an emergency node stone in case a pony had to make a very hasty retreat, but didn't have a good place to teleport to in sight. They were voice activated so that earth and pegasus ponies could use them as well. To keep an eye on the action, all she had to do was access the command center in Winnyford, and make a copy of all of the displays.

The feeds flickered to life, showing various views of Winnyford, and the dragon as it wheeled overhead. It seemed the guard had already erected a shield to protect the town itself, but everything outside it was still vulnerable to attack. They spent the next ten minutes transfixed to the projections, watching in morbid fascination as the guard attempted to ward the dragon off, and Astromida tried to reason with it, in between having a firefight. Moonstruck wasn't sure why her mother was using a fire spell on a dragon, when an ice, or lightening spell would likely be more effective. She knew better than to mention as much though, Astromida often had her reasons for doing things the way she did, although it often took a while for them to become clear.

The longer she watched, the more she suspected that her mother actually had no idea what she was doing. Her father had some good ideas, but the dragon always seemed to be a few steps ahead. When Astromida finally switched to an ice spell, it only seemed to anger the dragon. Which was when everything turned sour.

"Mooney, are they gonna be okay?" Acorn asked as the dragon unleashed a powerful fireball on the shield protecting Winnyford. The shield held, but it was clear that the unicorns maintaining it wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. Additionally, the fire had simply rolled off the shield and onto the surrounding countryside, setting it ablaze.

"I dunno..." She murmured, flicking her eyes between the projections. Her mother was never one for combat, and while her father was clever and resourceful, he wasn't much of a fighter either. Between the two of them they did alright, but this dragon seemed to be too much.

"... not if they keep this up - hey Dad!"

The projection of Mighty Oak turned to look at them. "You're still there?"

"Yeah, been watching the whole time. Look, the dragon won't be reasoned with, Mom needs to get serious with this thing."

He scowled at her. "She's _been_ serious with it. We've been throwing everything we've got at it."

"Yeah, badly." Moonstruck snorted. "Have her lead it away from town, and confront it out over the mountains where she can really cut loose."

"No good, we can't support her if she strays too far away from the unicorns. The pegasus ponies can only do so much." He shook his head.

"I know, but if they keep fighting over town, they're just gonna end up destroying everything anyway!"

"I know - Moonstruck, you should take your brother somewhere else, he's too little for all of this."

"I am not!" Acorn piped.

"Shh. I know Mom can take this thing, but she's only gonna hold back if she has other ponies to worry about!" She nudged her brother aside.

"Mooney, your mother isn't a warrior, even if she cuts loose she may not be able to defeat the dragon by herself - which is why she needs to stay close to the guard until Starshine arrives." Mighty Oak sighed. "If you know of a way she can defeat the dragon without serious combat magic, speak up."

Moonstruck scowled and stared at the floor. She did know of a way, she'd come up with it once when she and her friends were playing a table top role playing game. The spells she'd had at her disposal in-game were limited and of the most basic variety, which had forced her to think outside the box. Now if only she could remember….

"Does Mom know how to do a sonic rainboom?"

"What? Of course not, that's just a myth!"

Moonstruck felt a strange thrill race down her spine. "No, I'm pretty sure it's possible - especially for an alicorn."

She vaguely recalled hearing about a filly who'd done it over in Cloudsdale fairly recently. A little filly at that, probably not much older than Acorn.

The dragon attacked the shield again, causing a series of glowing magenta cracks to appear overhead. They healed themselves over, but it was clear that it wouldn't survive another direct hit.

"Mooney, I've got to go!"

"Wait, Dad! Tell mom to -!"

"No time!"

"All she needs to do is -!"

Mighty Oak bolted out of range of the orb. Moonstruck growled and raced over to the control panel to see if she could contact her mother directly. No such luck, Astromida was likely moving too quickly for the orb to keep up effectively. She bit her lip and stared at the far corner of the room, where a circle of arcane runes etched in the floor glowed faintly.

"Acorn, I need you to stay here and try to get ahold of Dad again."

"Mooney?" He whimpered, pulling his ears back. "You're not gonna do something really dumb are you?"

"Yes, yes I am." Moonstruck said. She hit a gem on the control board which would summon someone up to the tower to look after Acorn, then bolted over to the circle. She scowled down at the runes, running over how to activate the spell in her head.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure it'll work."

"Pretty sure!?" Acorn yelped, dashing over to her but stopping short of the magic circle.

She rolled her eyes. "Look, either it'll work, or it won't. At this rate though, that dragon is gonna take out half of Trot before anypony can stop it." She cast the spell.

A split second later, she was standing in a nearly identical circle at the Winnyford garrison. She shook static out of her mane and feathers, then darted towards the nearest exit, the weird thrill that had coursed through her body earlier settling into her bones. It was driving her now, pushing her towards this idiotic plan. It was intoxicating, she never wanted the feeling to leave, even though she knew that if her plan didn't work, she'd be dead in an instant.

Once outside, she spared a single glance up to see how the shield looked, then galloped towards the edge of town, hoping that the unicorns were directing most of their energy straight up, which would allow her to push through the shield with little difficulty at the bottom edge. Around her, townsponies ran this way and that, trying to find the oldest, sturdiest buildings to take shelter in. She was surprised there were so many out still, shouldn't they have sought shelter long ago?

She slid around a corner to see the bottom edge of the shield glowing faintly a short distance away. She took wing in a series of bounding leaps, focused on the shield ahead, and cast a small shield spell of her own, and altered its shape into that of a triangle, to make an arrow out of the space around her. She struck the shield at top speed; it rippled, stretched, then let her through. Letting out a triumphant chortle, Moonstruck glanced up, then began teleporting in a reckless zigzag pattern to get above the dragon as quickly as possible.

Normally she wouldn't teleport while flying, as it took too much math to do it safely, but time was of the essence, and there was enough thick, billowing smoke in the air to use as a decent visual reference. When she reached three thousand feet, she leveled off and searched below her for her mother and the guard, spotting the latter quickly enough, as they were sticking close to town. Her mother was further out, leading the dragon away. She smirked, at least her father had relayed her message.

Astromida was having a difficult time keeping the dragons attention, it kept trying to curve back around towards town, which forced her to fly directly in its path at close range on several occasions in the scant few minutes Moonstruck had been watching, leaving herself vulnerable to snapping jaws, and flaming breath. Her mother really wasn't cut out for combat.

"MOONEY!? WHAT IN BLAZES ARE YOU DOING!?"

Moonstruck glanced at the small, floating orb that shouted in her fathers voice when it appeared abruptly next to her.

"Something really stupid."

"Get back down here right now, young lady!"

"I have an idea."

"I don't care! You're not ready for this!"

"Actually, this is quite simple. Acorn could do it if he had wings." Moonstruck snorted absently, speeding up as the dragon swerved away from town again. She had to time this just right to make sure it didn't fall on anything important; the further out of town it was, the better.

"Moonstruck, _please_!"

She ignored him, focusing on tracking the dragons movements. It was so big it would be hard to miss, but she knew she had to be as precise as possible - she was going to be traveling at an insane speed, one wrong move would send her in any number of directions she didn't want to go in. She gained altitude as she went, running some rough numbers through her head as she did so to determine how high off the ground the dragon was (seemed like about a thousand feet from here, but she could be wrong); how much space she'd need to reach her top diving speed, and at what point she should cast her spell. The speed of haste spells could be controlled, but she only knew the most basic variety, which meant she only had one setting at her disposal, so timing was of the essence. Her angle of attack was another issue; if she knew a more advanced haste spell she could come in at a shallower angle, and make adjustments as needed, but as it was, she'd have to be practically on top of the dragon to score a direct hit.

Moonstruck was almost in position, her mother was still leading the dragon more or less away from town, and the ground below was mostly rolling foothills and empty farmland. Content that collateral damage would be at a minimum, and that she was high enough that most small course adjustments the dragon made were easily accounted for in her dive, she pulled into a hover to make her final preparations. The orb her father was using to communicate zoomed up next to her.

"Moonstruck! I order you to return this instant!"

"No can do. Can you tell Mom to teleport to safety in about... oh... two minutes." She said absently, eyes locked on the dragon far below.

"What!? Moonstruck!"

"Trust me, this will work." She said. Her heart beat faster as she realized that she really believed it. The strange adrenaline rush that had been coursing through her body was at a fever pitch now, making her almost giddy. She grinned. This was by far the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Even dumber than the time she, Breezy, Patch and Windwake had dared each other to jump off of the highest tower into the deepest part of the castle duck pond (without the use of their wings, in she, Breezy, and Windwake's cases).

"Mooney!"

She shot a small spark at the orb, forcing it back a few feet, so that she could focus on the task at hoof.

"Mooney! Hey, wake up!"

Wake up? That wasn't right, her father never told her to wake up, he just kept trying to reason with her until she stooped into a dive, and was moving too fast for the orb to keep up.

"Mooney?"

She twitched, realizing that she wasn't in the airspace above Winnyford, and that she wasn't a filly anymore. Moonstruck grimaced and curled into a ball as pain oozed across her awareness. She ached everywhere, but her wings were especially bad.

"Five more minutes." She muttered.

"Oh good, I was worried you weren't gonna wake up, but then you started muttering in your sleep a while ago." The mysterious male voice said. He sounded nothing like her father, how could she have gotten the two confused?

Moonstruck groaned and cracked an eye open. Joseph stood in front of her, scaly brows furrowed. She opened her other eye, then blinked a few times. It was still dark, but there was a familiar light coming from somewhere nearby. She was wrapped up in her blanket on her bedroll against a jumble of rocks. As she stared at the dragon, the memory of how she got her cutie mark faded, and her latest stupid idea bubbled back to the surface. She grimaced.

"How long was I out?"

"'Bout a day and a half." Joseph said, moving a bowl of water closer to her.

She grunted and rolled onto her stomach before scooting forward to take a sip of water. Normally she would have levitated the bowl, but there was a faint, magical buzz in her head that she was disinclined to aggravate. The water immediately soothed many of her aches and pains, though her head and wings remained stubbornly sore.

"So, I managed to get you to within spitting distance of the exit, but the trail was too steep to climb with you on my back." Joseph said, gesturing with his snout to a point somewhere behind and above her.

Moonstruck blinked a few times and wiggled around to look where he was indicating. The light in the cave was coming from the sun, but the opening to the outside world was a fair distance away, up a steep, winding trail. She frowned, recalling that the bridge wasn't even the half way point through the mines.

"You carried me that far?"

"Er... yeah. Figured it wouldn't be a good idea to stick around for long." He shifted his weight and looked away, scratching the back of his head with one clawed hand. "The gremlins were pretty freaked out, but they can be very persistent."

She grunted, not sure how to respond. A simple thank you seemed inadequate. Lame, even. She said it anyway, but he shrugged it off. Moonstruck pulled herself into a sitting position, and rifled through her saddlebags for something to eat. They lingered for a while in the jumble of boulders, listening for the scrapes and scrabbles of an encroaching gremlin army, but the cavern remained quiet. Once she was done eating, and had taken proper inventory of her overall physical state, they set off again; Joseph fluttering ahead of her on the trail, showing her how to avoid all of the dangerous bits.

Every step she took sent pain shooting up her legs, and every time she had to open a wing for balance it felt like it was going to fall off. She was fairly certain neither of her wings were broken, but they somehow managed to feel worse than way back when she'd spent her first day in goodness knows how long flying; stiff, and sore with a deep ache that seemed to resonate along her bones and down her spine. Even her pectorals – the main muscles that powered her wings - were tender. She hoped that in an effort to magically extend her wingspan she hadn't somehow done permanent damage. She couldn't really figure out how she could have hurt herself, aside from her rough landing, but clearly _something_ had gone wrong.

The climb was slow going, the sun had nearly set by the time she finally collapsed on the plush moss that grew at the cave entrance. It was only a short break, for like the entrance to the mines, the cave mouth was not free of danger, and they soon set off into the gathering twilight in search of a suitable place to camp. Thankfully, they located a sheltered spot beneath a rocky overhang to spend the night.

Moonstruck found the routine both tedious, and soothing. It was good to go through the motions of setting up her tent, and arranging her things, and the crackling fire that Joseph started (apparently his powers were back to normal), cast cheery light over their little nook. However, her body had had enough for the day, so every little motion caused considerable amount of pain, and even thinking about using magic caused her stomach to churn.

"So... what happened back there?" Joseph asked after a while.

Moonstruck opened her eyes and gazed across the fire at him. After being asleep for so long, she was having a hard time getting back to it, even though she was exhausted.

"It's hard to explain."

"I know unicorns have some kinda powered-up state..." Joseph said, shifting a little awkwardly.

"Yeah, that was it." Moonstruck grimaced. "I... that wasn't supposed to happen like that. I don't know what went wrong. The idea was to get across the gap, then power down but..."

"Right." Joseph grimaced as well. "After you passed out you blew up all of the crystals in the general vicinity."

"Really?" Moonstruck lifted her head a little.

"Yep. Pretty impressive. Crystals were cracked a good distance away too."

"That's actually really interesting." Moonstruck mused, gingerly scratching her chin with a forehoof. "The crystals are what are warping magic down there, they're absorbing any ambient magic, which is why my spells didn't work, and I guess why your fire breath fizzled out. Maybe I overloaded them."

"Really? That's what was going on?" The dragon tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, when I powered up I was able to check out what the magic was doing and," she winced, "when I was out of control I could kind of see everything. Every last strand of magic."

"Wow."

"It's probably why my head hurts now." She closed her eyes and tried to remember what she'd seen in more detail. While it was happening, she had been able to recognize many of the runes flying around, but now it was all a blur. "I don't remember what spell was in action though, just that there was a blend of pony and dragon magic. Or at least, I think it was dragon magic."

She opened her eyes to stare curiously at Joseph. "Did you know your magical signature is different from the magic flying around in the mines?"

"No?" He furrowed his brow. "How did you know it was dragon magic if you've never sensed it before?"

"Oh, basically all spells consist of invisible runes, if a unicorn enters a particular meditative state, they can see those runes. It's part of how high level spells are learned. I'm actually not very good at it." Moonstruck said, resisting the urge to wave a hoof around, "so, when I was out of control, I was entering and exiting that state, which allowed me to see the magical make-up of the mines and everything in it - including you. Your runes were very similar to the non-pony magic that was being absorbed and channeled through the crystals."

"So it's reasonable to say that was dragon magic mixed in there, but not the same type of dragon that you are. Your runes are... well, it was like the glyphs were nearly identical, but yours were a different color."

"Oh. Weird."

"Not really. It actually matches up with the three tribes of ponies." Moonstruck shrugged, then regretted it as a twinge of pain shot up her neck from her shoulder blades - both sets. "Earth pony runes look slightly different from pegasus runes, which look slightly different from unicorn runes. It's all in how magic flows through the body. Earth and pegasus ponies both have inborn magical abilities, but cannot cast spells - which basically creates a closed loop of runes. Unicorn runes have an open ended pattern that can incorporate other spells into the mix. Basically the dragon magic in the spell was from an open ended rune pattern, not some sort of inborn ability."

Joseph blinked a few times. "So they were a different color, eh?"

Moonstruck chuckled, then winced as the laughter hurt her ribs, which made her laugh more. It was a vicious cycle, especially when Joseph started to laugh too. Their laughter eventually settled into a comfortable silence, wherein, Moonstruck felt she might finally be able to sleep. Just as she was about to say as much, Joseph said something surprising.

"I'm sorry, I never should have taken you down there."

"It's okay, you didn't know."

"No, no I really should have factored it in." He shook his head. "Everything's so mixed up out here, and I knew the gremlins could get aggressive, I really should have known better."

"Really, it's fine. This whole trip is risky." Moonstruck shook her head as much as she dared. "Besides, I probably should have warned you that I tend to do stupid things when backed into a corner. Really, this isn't the first time I've hurt myself doing something like that."

He looked unconvinced, but he nodded slightly.

"Well, I am going to try to get some sleep." Moonstruck grunted, rising shakily to her hooves, careful not to let her blanket slide off her back.

"G'night." He murmured.

"Night."


	13. Chapter 12

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Moonstruck felt considerably better the next morning, although her wings still ached, and even the simplest spells caused pain to flare up behind her eyes. Her legs, at least, were back to a normal degree of soreness, which she attributed to running full tilt through a sea of gremlins for a mile. She hobbled down to a nearby creek to take a cold bath and refill her canteen, but paused on the way there, as the valley beyond their nook came into full view. It was a wide swath of prairie sweeping down from the steep mountains behind, lush with new grass and wildflowers. It was crescent shaped, as near as she could tell, with a river winding through it, and a tall plateau forming the northern border. A castle ruin stood atop a rocky island in an oxbow lake, and herds of elk or deer could be seen browsing though the new grass. It was a lovely sight.

She'd be here for a few days, at least. She was fairly certain she couldn't keep up a trot for long - if at all - and flying was absolutely out of the question at the moment. As she continued on to the spring, she mulled over why she was pressing onward. Roanamia could still be weeks away, she was in no condition to get there, and it was entirely possible she'd find herself in another situation like the one she'd just barely gambled her way out of. It wasn't like she particularly cared that much about the mission, did she?

She reached the creek and scowled down at the water, trying to remember why she'd agreed to do this. Moonstruck could remember the facts, that Roanamia had been lost to the world for over a thousand years; that it was ruled by a cruel, evil mare whom had turned it into a horrible dystopia; but why she personally had agreed to come was lost to her.

She grumbled to herself and stepped into the water, wincing as the cold hit her. She continued into the creek anyway, wading into a pool that came up to her withers. The cold, at least, numbed out her wings. She dipped under water for a few seconds, then popped up, shaking her mane out a little. If this were a hot spring she would soak for a while, but seeing as how it was snowmelt, she didn't dally in the creek. She climbed out after a minute or so and gingerly shook off. Normally she would cast a spell to dry herself, but decided it'd be best to keep magic use to a minimum for the next few days.

Joseph was back by the time she ambled into camp. "Well, nothing weird out in the valley. The hunting's good though. Really good. Lots of spring growth too. We'll eat pretty good, while you recover."

"Good." Moonstruck grunted, sitting down by the fire to start the long, slow drying process. "How far out from Roanamia are we?"

"About half way, although the next leg goes by quick." He hesitated. "You're continuing the mission even after...?"

She closed her eyes. "May as well."

"Okay..." Joseph said slowly. "Why?"

Of course he'd ask that. She opened her eyes, scowled into space, searched her mind for the best answer she could give, then turned to look at him.

"I'm stubborn."

He frowned, then turned away, shrugging. "Well, I guess there's no turning back at this point anyway. We should probably shift camp down to the castle. It's relatively stable, and safer than up here. There's a few large predators here, and gremlins will leave the caves at night on this side sometimes."

"Right." She nodded.

They broke camp and set off; Joseph promised to meet her at the castle later after he'd spent the day on the hunt. Moonstruck did not mind the solitude, she could only move at a steady walk, and she knew it would take her most of the day to get down to the castle which would likely drive the dragon up the wall.

There was no trail to speak of, just a long sweep of rocky grass and wildflowers. There was no need of a trail, when the going was this easy, Moonstruck knew. The warm sun felt good on her back and soothed her aching joints; as she walked her legs grew steadily stronger, and less stiff and sore. Her wings remained stubbornly achy, but she was able to ignore them, for the most part. She tried not to think much about what happened yesterday, nor why she was still doggedly pursuing the mission, for as she walked, the physical activity made her realize she was more mentally tired than anything. She'd certainly overexerted herself magically yesterday, perhaps it was better to just get to safety, and puzzle things out tomorrow.

"I'm not being lazy," she muttered to herself, smiling faintly. Even though she was, a little. She did still have to spend the day walking, though she suspected she'd be able to trot by the end of the day, provided the motion didn't jostle her wings too much. She let her gaze wander, taking in the landscape with the eye of a pony with a younger brother into botany, and a florist as a best friend; both of whom she tended to tune out whenever they rambled on about their plants. She somewhat regretted not listening more carefully. She recognized many of the plants, but the bulk of them were entirely new to her, and, she suspected, likely unique to this region. Possibly even to this river valley.

Around noon, she stopped to eat lunch, and took note that there were no foothills below the Broken Mountains on this side; the mountains jutted out of the ground without any build-up whatsoever, forming a near solid wall that stretched thousands of feet into the sky. She wondered how anypony could have passed through there on hoof, and if they had always been that way. As she let her gaze wander upwards, she noticed that there were two mountains with large, crescent shaped peaks. She suspected they would almost form a complete circle if viewed from the right angle. The more distant summit looked like it had had its top blown off, and the closer still had some rock near the top of the arch somehow. She knew less about rocks than she did plants, but even she knew that spit of stone should have crumbled eons ago.

The heights made her a bit dizzy, so she scooted around to inspect the opposite border of the valley; the plateau. From here it very much resembled a wall, but she recalled that from the other side of the valley, she could discern cracks and chasms, and crags zigzagging across the plateaus surface. Closer to the valley floor, it seemed much taller than it had before; possibly even impassable. It was to the north, which likely meant they'd have to traverse it somehow. She suspected they'd have to fly over it, there certainly didn't seem to be any good places to climb.

Shifting her gaze closer, she gave the castle an appraising look, noting that it had some pre-classical architecture going on, and was crumbling in a few places. It sat atop what she suspected was an old cinder cone, and was probably quite picturesque at sunup and sundown. She could see some evidence of an ancient road winding towards the castle, but she couldn't see any bridges to cross the river.

"Guess I'll figure that out when I get there," she murmured to herself.

Moonstruck finished up her lunch then set off again, wondering if this place was stuck in some sort of perpetual spring, or if she was now in an area in tune with the rest of the world. The river below was swollen with melted snow, the grass was almost knee deep, wildflowers were abundant, and many fawns scampered and played among the herds of elk and deer - all hallmarks of mid to late spring. She had lost track of time out here, but it didn't seem to matter. Life in the Broken Mountains marched at its own pace, and occasionally broke out into the robot, making it difficult to tell how long it had been outside in more predictable, and better regulated regions. For all she knew, barely three days had passed in Trot since she'd first set hoof on that misty trail outside Stirrup Springs.

She reached the river as the sun dipped low on the horizon. She feared having to swim in the dark in the cold, fast, deep water, but thankfully it was mostly marsh right up to the remains of a stone road that wound its way up to the castle. She got to wade through cold, belly deep water instead. At least it was clean water with willow trees growing here and there. She wasted no time in refilling her canteen, and collecting some willow bark to brew a painkilling tea for her wings. She even chanced a little magic to collect what she needed. Casting the simple levitation spell still caused her pain, but it was tolerable in short bursts.

"Oh, there you are. Was expecting you sooner." Joseph said as she sloshed towards dry land. The dragon landed in a tree, looking like some sort of a long tailed, oversized crow as he was silhouetted against the setting sun.

"Yeah, was taking it easy."

"Have a nice walk?"

"I did." Moonstruck smiled and glanced up at him. It _had_ been nice. It was a splendid day for a walk, even if she was still sore, and her wings continued to throb. "Find any poor animals to eat?"

"Plenty." Joseph chortled. "I also scouted around the castle. There's a room with a fireplace that's serviceable. I already snagged some firewood."

"Oh good." Moonstruck sighed. She could go for a four star hotel and a massage at the moment, but a roof and a crackling fire would do. Especially if she could find a cast iron kettle or something. Cast iron would survive this long if properly stored, right?

"I don't suppose you you've found any cookware or anything?"

"Uh..."

"Like, a cast iron tea kettle?"

"I didn't really look."

"Hmm. Guess we can go exploring a bit."

"Yeah, there's some neat stuff in there anyway. There's no telling what you might find."

She reached the edge of the road and pulled herself on shore, wincing as she did so. The cold had soothed a few remaining knots in her muscles, but it had also played havoc with her joints. She shook off, wincing at the pain, then hobbled onto the ancient cobblestones. They meandered up to the castle, taking in the view as they went. The sunset was spectacular this evening, made all the better by the river, which reflected the red sky, and scattered clouds. Joseph led her to the room in question, which was within the walls of the castle and quite sheltered. It was actually in better shape than the house they'd camped in back in the city by the river on the other side of the mountains. She set up her stuff, then wandered off to see if she could find the kitchens, which seemed like the best place to find a cast iron pot. She could just chew on the willow bark, but she'd rather brew a tea - it was less harsh on her stomach in tea form.

The sun was down by that point, so she reluctantly cast a light spell, which caused a headache to rise up somewhere behind her eyes. Thankfully it was dull, and relatively easy to ignore, for the most part, however it was concerning. Was this going to happen every time she cast a spell? She hoped it was temporary, that after a few more days she could cast spells without any lingering pain.

As they passed a hallway that led outside, a tall, silver and gold alicorn materialized and strode gracefully past them.

"Hey, Mom." Moonstruck grunted automatically, as she often did when lost in thought while passing her mother in hallways.

"Um..." Joseph grunted.

Moonstruck caught up to the situation a moment later, snapped her head up and whipped around to stare down the hallway. Sure enough, her mother was still making her way down the corridor looking rather distracted herself.

"Mom!?" Moonstruck gasped.

"Mom?" Joseph echoed, confused.

She scrambled down the hall after the elder alicorn, dragon in tow. Astromida did not respond to her presence at all, in fact, she didn't seem to be aware that she was not alone in the corridor.

"It's a ghost?" Joseph said.

"Not a ghost, an echo. Like the village where the mountains broke." Moonstruck murmured, slowing to trail after her mother. They emerged onto a terrace that was bathed in moonlight, which allowed Moonstruck to cancel her spell for the time being, although the pain still lingered. Outside, it was easier to see that Astromida was much, much younger than Moonstruck remembered - perhaps not much older than Starshine's current age. She walked across the terrace and onto empty air, where part of the structure had fallen off at some point in the past. A grizzled old griffon stood off to the side. He turned to regard the alicorn, then dipped his beak respectively.

"Princess Astromida."

"General Lionheart." Astromida dipped her head gracefully.

"Are you sure they will come tonight?" The griffon asked.

"Quite. Any time, I would presume." She swept her gaze across the horizon, her mane blowing in some supernatural breeze that didn't seem to effect the griffon at all.

"Well, you generally presume correctly." He chuckled.

Moonstruck walked as far out onto the broken terrace as she dared, moving silently even though she knew the others couldn't hear her.

"What's going on?" Joseph whispered.

"This is... well it's basically a recording. This happened a long time ago, but it's still playing out here, for some reason." Moonstruck muttered. "Haven't you been to that one village?"

"Yeah, but I've never seen anything like this." He shook his head.

Moonstruck stared at him for a moment. "You didn't see the three fillies there?"

"What fillies?"

She quickly related what had happened back at the village she had encountered weeks earlier. Joseph scratched the back of his head and stared at the pony and griffon standing placidly on empty air.

"I've been here before, but I've never seen this. Though I don't remember if I ever came out here at night."

"Maybe it only works for ponies?" Moonstruck shrugged. "And you're only seeing it now 'cause I'm here."

He shrugged as well. "How long ago do you think this is?"

"Over a thousand years, at least."

Joseph whistled quietly.

"Ah, there they are. As you predicted." The general smiled, gaping his beak open slightly.

Astromida squinted into the distance. "General, I may be able to see the future, but your eyesight is far better than mine," she laughed softly.

"It's a griffon thing." He winked.

Moonstruck reared up onto her hind legs to take a look, as Joseph stretched up tall.

"Oh yeah, looks like a couple of pegasus. Maybe alicorns." The dragon confirmed.

Moonstruck ran down the list of alicorns she knew to be active around this time as they waited for them to get close enough for the ponies to see, but dropped it as she realized there was really only one pair that got involved in things in this time period. A few minutes later, Princesses Celestia and Luna landed on the now non-existent end of the terrace.

"Welcome back!" General Lionheart greeted cheerily.

"Well met, cousins." Astromida nodded politely.

"Hello - Luna, you can't keep this up! You just ended up making Lucena - " Celestia argued.

"We are not gods!" Luna snapped.

"But raising the moon in daylight and causing an eclipse just to prove a point certainly makes us look that way!" Celestia growled.

"Ah, that's what that was..." Lionheart muttered.

"I had to! Lucena had everypony doubting that we have any control over celestial bodies!" Luna stamped a hoof. "And she'd convinced them _I_ was barely more powerful than an average unicorn!"

"So!?"

"You've seen the power struggles between alicorns! The only reason we're allowed to rule is because we're the most powerful! If they start doubting us, everything we fought for might be lost to a stupid civil war!"

"It will not be lost!" Celestia said firmly. "We were chosen by our peers to hunt down the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord - _which we did._ It was agreed upon by all alicorns that it was still our birthright to rule over Equestria, and that we would assume all responsibility for raising and lowering the sun and moon until such time that unicorns recovered from the distortion of Discords magic. There is no reason for the other families to make a power grab - they have nothing to gain!"

"Then explain Lucena! Why are we even here having diplomatic talks with her if she isn't pushing for more influence? Explain to me why she's amassing an army! Explain to me why she has her citizens convinced all alicorns are gods, but she's the god among gods!" Luna snarled. "Explain to me why the rest of House Rosegard doesn't reign her in, or why House Grayfeather is supporting her!"

"I don't know." Celestia sighed.

"Of course not! You were too busy playing around with the Roanamian nobles all day, while I was up all night gathering information!" Luna spat.

"Luna! You know that diplomatic relations -"

"Are horse apples! You only ever saw what Lucena wanted you to see! Roanamia at night is a very different country! A frightening one, wrought with nightmares even I cannot soothe! But you wouldn't know that because you only ever run in the light of your own sun!" She snorted, stamped a hoof, lashed her tail, then folded her wings and stormed away; past Moonstruck and Joseph and into the castle.

Celestia let out a long sigh and lowered her head as an awkward silence settled over the terrace.

"Astromida, I know you do not like to divulge specifics but... will Luna be alright? I am afraid... I am afraid that Lucena got to her somehow."

"The path ahead is dark for her, no matter which way she turns." Astromida murmured, staring after Luna. "But there is hope."

Celestia nodded. "Thank you, that means a lot."

"So... how is it in there?" General Lionheart asked hesitantly. "I still can't figure out why you left your oracle here. Seems like she'd be of most use at your side."

"Bad. Lucena has... she has divided the three tribes of ponies into different sections of the city, and she seems to be neglecting the pegasus ponies to a great extent. Most of the tours I was taken on were of unicorn neighborhoods, but we would pass near enough to other sections of the city to see that life was very different for pegasus and earth ponies." Celestia paused to scowl darkly. "She is insisting that the segregation is voluntary, but I very much doubt that. Beyond that I have not personally witnessed much – a fair bit of corruption, yes, but nothing on the scale that Luna has discovered."

"What has Luna seen?" Lionheart leaned forward curiously.

"A vast army hidden in the oldest parts of the city; acolytes of a strange cult that seem to worship a great dragon, and see Lucena as an avatar of this dragon. And suffering. So much suffering." Celestia shook her head sadly. "I doubt my sister is lying, but I saw none of this for myself. But I was also not in a position to slip away to do some digging."

"And that's why you needed your Oracle! Surely Astromida can confirm all of this!" Lionheart insisted.

"I can, and I do not need to be present to do so." Astromida blinked her large, luminous blue eyes. "What Princess Luna witnessed is quite real, I am afraid."

"And don't call me Shirley." Moonstruck added under her breath. If this had been Astromida in the flesh, she would have whipped around to give her daughter a sharp look, but seeing as how it was merely a memory, she didn't react.

"It is much better that she does not know that house Sol-Chronos has gotten involved. Chronos is always neutral when it comes to alicorn affairs, so Princess Astromidas willingness to aid us could be seen as an act of war. The last thing we need now is war." Celestia frowned.

Astromida nodded. "I would not be involved if there was not a slim chance that Roanamia can be saved." She scowled, then cast a glance to the side, stared directly at Moonstruck for a few unsettling moments. It sent a chill running down her spine.

"Can she see us?" Joseph breathed. Moonstruck couldn't form an answer.

"It is... it is a dim hope. Distant and faint." Astromida said, frowning slightly, then turning back to the others. "But I fear if things continue on as they have been, it may be all we have."

Celestia nodded, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then lifted her head. "It has been a long flight, I should sleep."

"Yes, yes, of course. Good night, Princess." General Lionheart said, bowing his head respectfully.

Celestia walked wearily past them as the echo began to fade, and the players disappeared into the cool night air.

"She knew." Moonstruck said, sitting down. "That sonnova biscuit-eater _KNEW_!"

"Pardon?" Joseph asked.

Moonstruck got up again and cast her light spell as she stormed back into the castle, ignoring the pain that oozed between her ears. "All of these years of letting me struggle, and she knew! She knew! Aaargh!"

"Wait... so your Mom was an oracle, and... she saw us just now didn't she?"

"Is. Is an oracle. She's still alive. Just... retired, or something. No one's seen her in months – unless she came back while I've been away." Moonstruck growled. "And yes, she probably did see us back then. Which means she knew I'd freaking take this mission! She knew I'd somehow end up here, of all places!"

"I'm confused."

Moonstruck stopped, which caused Joseph to bump into her. "Basically, the future isn't some solid, easily predictable thing. It's constantly in motion, constantly changing. Mom is one of the most powerful oracles of all time because she can see all the parts. Every possibility is spread out before her eyes. But, even knowing all that, she can't say with any certainty what will happen, because time – life - is absurdly complex."

She started off again, tail twitching in irritation. "I mean, even if you focus on a single day in a single ponies life there's an infinite number of possibilities. She could wake up late, she could wake up early. If she wakes up late she will miss the bus and have to run to work. If she's not on her usual bus, she might avoid being in an accident. Or maybe because she had to run to work, she'll miss out on donuts, or she'll be hit by a carriage, or maybe she's just plain old late and nothing in particular happens. Any one of those variables can effect the outcome of the day, and sometimes the variables are super tiny, and super mundane. Like, maybe she wakes up early, and eats a bigger breakfast than normal, and it gives her indigestion, so she ends up not going into work at all. You follow?"

"Er... yeah. I think so. It's like ripples in a pond, right?"

"Yes! And to complicate matters further, every move you make also effects the movement of those around you. No one exists in a vacuum, we're all connected through our shared existence."

"Okay..."

"Basically it means that predicting the future is actually nearly impossible, but Mom can do it. And that's because she can see EVERYTHING, not just snippets like most other oracles. So when she uses her ability, she can also sort out all of the stuff that is least likely to happen, and follow different routes through to the end so that she can make an educated guess where things are headed. But it all hinges on choices. Everyone's choices." Moonstruck shook her head. She really needed to find that kettle. The kitchens had to be around here somewhere.

"So does it really mean anything that she saw us just now? Or, back then?" Joseph furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his head.

"Yes and no." Moonstruck waved a hoof flippantly. "Some stuff is just destined to happen er, more like, basically everything just lines up for it to happen, Mom used to call them temporal bottlenecks, where all paths lead to one event, then branch out again from there. It's possible that we're in a temporal bottleneck, and it's possible that this is just one path."

"Huh. Guess that isn't very helpful, is it?"

"Not without Mom around to tell us which one." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "Which is why she left, I bet. Things were going to happen that needed to happen, and she couldn't stomach hanging around to watch things go down."

"So, you're leaning towards bottleneck?"

"Yep. Mom never liked to get directly involved in anyponies lives. She didn't do any specific fortunetelling, and she only interfered when she knew that her involvement meant many lives would be saved." Moonstruck sighed. "And she deliberately tried to block out anything to do with her own family. She's an oracle, but she's not some detached omnipresent being - she still has emotions."

"Sooooooooooo... maybe she didn't know?" Joseph asked hesitantly as they turned down a decidedly less ornate corridor, which likely led to the working parts of the castle.

"She knew. She may have seen us well before we were born, but she had to recognize that the mysterious pony she'd seen at the meeting was her daughter, once I was born." Moonstruck shook her head. "This is probably the kitchen."

They poked their heads into the room in question, and Moonstruck reluctantly sent her spark of light up to hover high in the center of the room. The pain increased in proportion, making her seriously consider just going to bed, and hoping her tired muscles would work themselves out while she slept. It was the kitchen, however, and all of the cupboards were tightly shut, which was promising.

"That must've torn her up inside." Joseph noted.

"Probably. I dunno if she actually decided to look into my future though. Probably not. She probably tried to let things progress without any interference." Moonstruck sighed. "I'll take this half of the room."

Joseph grunted and ambled over to his side of the room.

"Which would be fine, except she... well she always had a sort of hooves off approach with me. She pushed me to be my best, but would never offer any guidance. But I'm probably the only one she accidentally caught a glimpse of in the time stream." She frowned, and used a hoof to pry open a cupboard. Empty.

Joseph didn't respond. For a few minutes, the only sound was the creaking of cabinet doors.

"Hey, didn't your Mom greet the other alicorns as 'cousin'?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. We're like... sixth cousins or something. Most alicorns are related to some degree. Not so much us younger ones, since most of us are half, or less." Moonstruck shrugged, then winced as her wings added their own ache to her pain symphony.

"Celestia and Luna are the last heirs of House Sol. My family is House Sol-Chronos, which is the joining of a branch from the Sol family tree, and the Chronos family tree. My sister and I are the last alicorns in the line, unless one of us has alicorn foals." She popped a stubborn door nearly off its hinges and chortled. There was a kettle inside among other cast iron pots and pans. She carefully levitated it out, the strain of keeping two spells going at once nearly breaking her.

She set the kettle down and closed her eyes. "Ugh, I hope this wears off soon."

"You okay?" Joseph asked, padding over with the clicking of claw on stone.

"Yeah, it just hurts to cast spells. I should be alright in a few days." She shook her head, and called the spark of light back so that she could inspect the kettle. It was in amazingly good shape; had only a bit of rust on the outside. The inside was surprisingly clean.

She chanced using two spells again to levitate the kettle (which was too heavy to carry by mouth, and lacked any sort of wooden handle that would allow her to do so even if it wasn't), and steeled herself to get all the way down to the river and back.

"Get the fire going, I'll be back up in a few."

* * *

Moonstruck set the kettle down next to her, then sank down to the weathered cobblestones as she canceled her light spell. Cool darkness settled over her, the only sound her ragged breathing, and the gently flowing river. She rearranged her list of Stupid Things She Has Done, and placed bringing the kettle all the way down to the bottom of the hill to get a little bit of water at the very top of the list. Her head was killing her, and she still had to actually collect the water, and go back up to the castle.

"What am I doing?" She groaned, rolling on to her back to stare up at the stars shining brightly overhead. She grimaced as the weight on her wings sent pain that rivaled her headache exploding up and down her spine, and down to her chest. She rolled back on to her stomach and let out a pained sob, hot tears streaming down her face. It wasn't the physical pain that caused the tears – physical pain she could deal with; it was everything else _on top_ of the physical pain. The mission; her mothers apparent knowledge that she would take the mission; the fact that she was nearly crippled in the flight and magic departments for the time being; the part where she was weeks away from home in an abandoned castle where a small chunk of history was playing out over and over again; and that she was more angry with her mother than over the greater problem of whatever the heck it was Lucena had done. She was also a bit irritated and confused by Celestias' decision to leave much of this information out of her initial briefing. Really, all of this would have been very useful information – especially the part where her mother had been involved.

Moonstruck was not certain of how much time she spent crying on the cobblestones, but she knew it couldn't have been long. Joseph hadn't come looking for her, at least, and the moon hadn't moved much. She sniffled, wiped a little snot away from her nose with one hoof, then shakily lifted the kettle to dip it into the river. Once she had enough water for tonight's bowl of tea and some for breakfast, she turned around and started the slow climb to the castle. She didn't bother with a light spell, her eyes had adjusted well enough to the dark that moonlight was sufficient to navigate by.

Having only one spell going allowed her to make it back up to their room without putting herself into a coma, but by the time she staggered into the one lit chamber of the whole castle, she was about ready to collapse. She managed to place the kettle on the hook designed to hold it that was jutting out of the fireplace over the fire, then crumpled into a heap on the hearth.

"Er... you okay?" Joseph asked.

"Not really." She closed her eyes and tried to focus on simply breathing.

"Want me to make the tea?"

"That... that would be nice, thank you."


	14. Chapter 13

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Moonstruck spent the next few days puttering around the general vicinity of the castle, taking it easy for the most part. The pain in her wings gradually subsided, and she found she could cast more spells, though her head still hurt if she maintained any of them for more than a few minutes at a time. In the early evening she would sit out on the broken veranda and watch the memories play out, trying to glean as much information from the conversation as she could. She made it a point to sit in different places to see if her mother would look at her every time, but the apparition did not. She always looked to the place that Moonstruck and Joseph had stood in that first night. It was oddly comforting.

She took up taking short flights as the pain in her wings finally faded to a dull ache that seemed to effect her joints more than anything else. At first she merely attempted short glides (more accurately flutter lazily, since her undersized wings didn't actually allow her to glide properly), from tall boulders to the ground, then fluttered a bit less lazily to boulders a few hundred yards away. As her wings gradually recovered, she was surprised by how sore her muscles were. She had been grounded less than a week, but her pectorals complained as though they hadn't been used for a month or more, and simply flexing her wings seemed to take more effort.

It was perplexing, and vexing, but not as vexing as the solution - which was to keep flying. This very much went against her inclination to sleep it off. But she kept at it, flying a little further, and a little higher every day. Sometimes Joseph joined her, others she wandered aimlessly over the river valley in solitude. By the end of the second week she was strong enough to spend the entire day in the air, though she still lacked speed, but she knew that would come with time. Time they didn't have.

"Well..." she said a day later as she and Joseph were settling down to sleep, "guess we should keep moving."

He looked up from inspecting a secondary feather that had gotten out of whack at some point during the day and raised a scaly brow.

"You sure?"

Moonstruck stared into the fire and adjusted her blanket. "Yeah. No point in hanging around here any longer. I'll finish recovering on the move." She grimaced and shifted her wings.

"My wings still hurt, but they're getting better the more I fly."

"And your magic?"

Her grimace darkened into a scowl. "Also still hurts, but I can maintain spells longer, and cast more of them. That's... there's no telling when I'll fully recover."

Joseph scowled as well, opened his wing and ran a hand over his wayward feather to smooth it back into position. He closed it elegantly, crossed his arms in front of his chest... crop... lower neck region (she really wasn't sure what to call that particular section of his anatomy), and pulled his neck back into a tight s-curve to rest his head on his neck, and his neck on his shoulders very much like a bird. Specifically a duck, Moonstruck recalled watching the various ducks around Trot City rest in such a position. It looked a bit less natural without thick feathers to blur the line between shoulder and neck.

"Two more days." He grunted after a short pause. "The plateau has some distortion around it that places it very high. You'll need to spend a couple of days doing some high altitude flying to get used to it."

"Okay." Moonstruck nodded. "How high we talking?"

He furrowed his brow. "I'm not sure exactly. Over fourteen thousand feet."

Moonstruck sputtered. "I've never flown that high in my life!"

"How high are ponies usually good for?"

"I dunno, maybe five or six thousand? I know pegasus cloud cities will rise up to clear mountains, but they don't stay that high for long." Moonstruck stared at the ceiling and tried to remember the usual physical capabilities of pegasai.

"Some pones do live very high up in the mountains, but I think those are actually earth ponies."

She rubbed her chin with one hoof, and tapped the floor with another. "There's gotta be some mountain pegasus ponies who live at extreme altitudes. Doesn't really matter though, 'cause I'm not one of 'em."

"Guess not." He scratched his chest... lower neck region (she really should ask him about that) with one clawed hand, then yawned. "Guess you'll just have to adapt. We'll only need to be up that high for a couple of days – a week tops. Kinda depends on how we time it."

"Is it one of those things where you have to be at a certain spot, at a certain time?" Moonstruck yawned as well and snuggled further down into her blanket.

"Yeah. Luckily it's stuck in about a week long loop, so it's always nearly the right time."

Moonstruck grunted and closed her eyes, letting the warmth, and crackle of the fire lull her to sleep. For a time it seemed Joseph was doing the same, but he suddenly spoke just as she was drifting off.

"I know I've asked you this before but... why are you still trying to complete your mission?"

Moonstruck opened one eye to squint in his general direction, and twitched her tail. "I told you, I'm stubborn."

"It's gotta be more than that."

"It's difficult to explain." She sighed.

"Do you even know?"

"Not really but – why is this so important to you?" She opened her other eye to glare at him properly.

"It isn't. And I haven't known you that long, but it doesn't actually seem that important to you either. So I can't figure out why you'd risk life and limb to do this thing." He snapped.

"Well, if it's so unimportant to you, why are you determined to guide me into Roanamia?" She shot back. "You could just write the instructions down and leave me on my own."

He lifted his head. "Because I said I would. A dragon never goes back on his word."

She smirked. "So, you're stubborn too."

He opened his mouth to reply, paused, shut it again, then tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah... I guess."

"Anyway... I dunno how much you were able to talk to Sarah, but it's pretty bad in there." Moonstruck shook her head. "I guess in an official capacity I know how important this mission is, and that I really need to give it my absolute best shot. In an unofficial capacity; I tend to make stupid gambles, so I wouldn't be giving it my absolute best unless I doggedly keep making stupid gambles until one of them works, or I run outta options."

An odd weight lifted off her shoulders as she said this. She'd still been avoiding thinking too hard on why she was still doing all this, but something about just sort of blurting it out without thinking seemed to bring things into focus.

"That makes more sense." Joseph nodded. "And I did talk to Sarah a bit. She was pretty delirious. But I've poked around in there enough to know when she was telling things like they are, and when she was completely off her rocker."

Moonstruck gave the dragon a long, appraising stare. "You were absolutely bull-hokeying me back when we first met; about not caring about what happened if whatever's in Roanamia got out."

"Maybe a little." Joseph snorted, looking away. "There's not much I can do as one dragon, but if Equestria gets involved, there seemed like more of a chance."

"So why didn't you agree to help me at first? Or – heck, why didn't you just stay with Sarah and tell Princess Celestia yourself?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow.

"My species likes to keep to itself, and we do that by not meddling in the affairs of ponies." Joseph sniff haughtily, then ducked his head. "I figured I'd watch you for a while to decide if you were trustworthy, and up to the task."

"You totally led me around in circles on purpose." She said flatly.

"Nope, just took you the long way." He shifted his wings a little. "I figured that would be enough of a test. Plus, I was a little concerned that you trusted me so readily."

Moonstruck shrugged. "You don't pose any real threat to me; it's impossible to loose me out in the hills then abandon me because I could just decide to give up and I'd end up back where I started; and you had already gone out of your way to help a total stranger. I figured it was a low-risk venture. Also I was seriously considering becoming Queen of the Goats at that point, so I REALLY needed someone to talk to."

"Oh well that – wait, I totally pose a threat to you!" Joseph huffed.

"If you catch me off guard, maybe." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "I'm an alicorn, dude. I gots the magic like whoa."

"Except for right now." He smirked.

"Pff, I can kick your tail blindfolded with one hoof tied to my chest." She smirked at him, then yawned. "Can we sleep now?"

"Yeah, I guess. Long day tomorrow." Joseph grumbled and rested his head on the ground.

"And I can kick your tail blindfolded with both hands and one wing tied to my chest."

"We'll have to fight sometime and find out." Moonstruck chuckled, pulling her blanket over her head. "G'night."

"Night."

* * *

One of the most enduring controversies among pegasus was whether or not raising their foals on the ground delayed, or somehow stunted their ability to fly. To non-winged ponies this was a silly debate, for they knew that all pegasus would take to the air eventually, and even if they didn't, they could still live full and happy lives on the ground with their flightless brethren. To the pegasus, it was a matter of fear. Not so much the fear that land-born foals would be lesser fliers, since all ponies learn and grow at their own pace regardless of where they were born, but rather the fear of heights. For a foal born and raised in a cloud city, heights were not an issue. They are so accustomed to the ground being hundreds – if not thousands – of feet down that taking that first tentative flight off the edge of the cloud and into nothingness is but a momentary bout of nervous excitement for most.

A land-raised pegasus, however, has a bit of a steeper learning curve. They start out on the ground, and must gradually work their way up. For most, their first flight above tree height is a daunting one. To fly, one must be okay to fall; fledgling pegasus born and raised on the ground must come to grips with this reality – a reality that is not shared with their cloud-born cohorts. The fear does slow their progress somewhat, as it takes them longer to get used to being well above the ground.

Being born and raised in a castle carved out of a rocky outcropping above a fjord, Moonstruck was one of the ground based fledglings. She hadn't felt any real fear of heights since she was fairly young, but now it was all coming back to her. Being almost sixteen thousand feet up in thin, frosty air that made her light headed, while her joints complained at every flex of her wings would do that to a pony. It didn't help that the lack of oxygen was also causing her head to throb and her stomach to turn a little just to get in on the action.

This was higher than they would need to fly to reach the plateau, Joseph had said, but it still seemed to loom tall off her right wing. She tried not to look at it (or look down), as she trailed after the dragon, and reminded herself that they only needed to spend a few minutes this high to see how long she could stand it. Joseph was having trouble too, but seemed better adapted to a little bit of extreme high altitude flying than she was, though she knew he'd be at his limits soon. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as a wave of vertigo washed over her, and she momentarily lost track of which way was up. She wasn't sure if it was just the thin air, or the sight of the ground being so far away that was disorienting her so – possibly a combination of both.

"How much longer!?" She shouted, then coughed. She sorely wished there were clouds today; a layer between herself and the ground would be most helpful. It was taking all of her willpower to continue to glide and flutter her wings every few seconds. Perhaps it was a trick of the altitude, or her brain being deprived of oxygen, but she seemed to be able to go without flapping for longer than she recalled.

"I think we're good!" Joseph shouted back, his voice hoarse. "Descend slowly; don't wanna make yourself sick!"

"Too late!" Moonstruck quipped, grimacing. She followed the dragons lead as he adjusted his wings and started his descent. It seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to drop down to ten thousand feet, which was about the last point her head wasn't buzzing as near as she could recall. They spent almost the rest of the day at that height, then spent the last few hours of the day spiraling lazily back to the castle, arriving shortly after moonrise.

After a quick dinner of roasted tubers and willow bark tea, they crashed for the evening, then set off shortly after dawn for another high altitude flight, this time lingering at twelve thousand feet for a while.

Both of them were a tad ill by the time they descended, but Joseph was confident that a slower climb to the plateau should stave off the bulk of their altitude sickness. Moonstruck wasn't so sure, but she was having trouble sorting out the altitude sickness, from the woe she'd been experiencing since the crystal mines. For all she knew the altitude was just making all of that worse. She'd find out soon enough, she knew. Being up at twelve thousand feet all day had been uncomfortable, but not as bad as fifteen thousand feet. Theoretically, spending a few days that high would allow her to properly become accustomed to it.

Moonstruck stiffly gathered her things as Joseph groomed his wings; packing up everything but her bedroll, spare blanket, and something for breakfast. The kettle would have to stay; it was simply too bulky and heavy to take with her. She made a mental note to buy a little travel tea kettle for her next adventure (provided she survived this one), then crawled into bed. She gave the room one last look to confirm that she didn't have anything else lying around that she'd need to pack, then laid her head down, and pulled the blanket over her eyes.

* * *

They took off shortly after sunrise; catching a thermal and rising swiftly above the valley in a long spiral. Moonstruck stared down at the castle for a while, knowing it would likely be the last time she'd have a proper roof over her head for a while. A month, at least. It had already taken so long to get to this point, that she was unsure if she should poke around Roanamia for very long. She might be able to gather some valuable information, but if it took weeks to reach the outside world, it might not be particularly useful information by the time she got back.

She scowled as Joseph slid to the north, exiting the thermal at about eight thousand feet. They'd have to work to get up to the right altitude, and to the plateau, couldn't just let the thermal do most of the work for them. Something about the angle they needed to approach the plateau by. They settled into an easy pace, and Moonstruck let her mind wander back to the coming weeks. She knew that her duration in Roanamia depended largely on what she found in there, and whether or not she'd be able to maintain her disguise long enough to go poking around in populated areas. She hadn't attempted any more complex spells yet, but her rate of recovery seemed to indicate that she would be able to soon. Flying around in disguise was key – she knew she wouldn't be able to gather much – if any – information without it.

The day passed slowly; her wings hurt for much of the time though it was more of a lingering dull ache. Her lungs burned and head buzzed as they reached their cruising altitude near sunset. Thankfully they were also approaching the plateau, and would be able to land soon. She shook her head as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Double vision was not something she could get used to, she felt. They came to rest as twilight settled on the plateau, the sun out of sight beyond the western mountains, and the glow of the moon just visible on the eastern horizon.

"See, not so bad when we take it slow." Joseph quipped as he ruffled his wings and turned to look at her. He grimaced. "Er..."

Moonstruck squinted at him, and fought back the urge to vomit. She must look pretty bad, for him to be making such a face. "Can we sleep now?"

"Uh... yeah. Plenty of good places to camp in here." He took a hesitant step, watched her wobble. "You know, I'll go find a place you just... sit down and drink some water or something."

Moonstruck grunted and plopped down where she stood, squeezing her eyes shut. She sat very still for a few moments, then carefully slid her saddlebags off her back. Keeping her eyes closed, she rummaged around for her canteen, located it, and clumsily unscrewed the cap with a forehoof. She was not chancing using magic yet – not until she was used to the altitude. Water helped alleviate her nausea and settle down her aching joints, but it didn't do much for her headache. She didn't open her eyes until Joseph returned, and she did so with great reluctance.

He led her along the edge of the plateau for a few minutes, then made a sharp left to go around a jumble of rounded boulders. On the other side there was a shallow ravine that she had not noticed from the air. They walked along the edge of the ravine, traveling north and further on to the plateau. Moonstruck noted blearily that the plateau was huge, stretching far off into the distance. It seemed as though it would go on forever, if not for the high peaks of another mountain range etched against the darkening horizon.

Joseph grunted and pointed at a steep trail that zigzagged down the jagged walls of the small canyon. "This is actually where we want to be. We'll probably be here for a few days, judging by where the sun set."

"Right, good. Should give me time to get used to this." Moonstruck muttered. She started gingerly down the trail after the dragon, glad that her double-vision was not so bad that she couldn't navigate, though it was certainly a tedious climb down to the ravine floor. Thankfully it was only a short climb. While the walls were steep, and perhaps less than a quarter mile across, the ravine was but a shallow cleft in the plateau only a hundred yards or so deep.

Their campsite was a pleasant hollow beneath a large fallen log that was wedged between two rounded boulders. Moonstruck didn't bother setting up her tent, she simply pulled her blanket out of her saddle bag, curled up in it, and collapsed on the lush grass that grew beneath the log. She was asleep before Joseph got the fire going.

hr

Although Moonstruck had experienced similar phenomena before while traveling through the foothills, she was still a tad perplexed the next morning when she dragged herself over to the creek that ran down the center of the ravine, and happened to look up at the late-setting moon. It wasn't that the moon was still out during the day – this happened for various reasons involving tide schedules, last she recalled - no, it was _where_ the moon was setting.

She blinked a few times, furrowed her brow, and wondered if the altitude sickness was causing hallucinations. "Hey, Joseph..."

"Mmm?" The dragon grunted from where he fussed with the fire.

"I was kinda out of it last night, but didn't this ravine open up to the south?"

"It did."

"So... did the whole plateau rotate, or is the moon setting to the south?" Setting to the south almost within those strange, concentric rings in the mountains she'd observed when she'd first trekked across the valley below.

"The plateau rotated. Well, this portion. You know how it works." Joseph shrugged and waved a clawed hand flippantly.

"Right." Moonstruck gingerly shook her head, then waded out into the creek. She'd never seen a shift as dramatic as this. Even when she'd fallen asleep, and woken up to that snowstorm and phantom foals, the landscape had still more or less been oriented the way it had been the night before; mountains to the north, sun came up in the east and set in the west and all that.

The creek water was cold, but not so cold as to send her running back to shore, so she lingered for a bit to let the water soothe her aching joints and clear her head. She half turned to look at Joseph, whom had finished with the fire, and was now gathering up driftwood from the riverbed for firewood.

She finished her bath and crawled out of the creek, shaking off, then daring to cast her go-to drying spell. It was a bit dizzying to use magic, but she felt that momentary nausea was preferable to catching cold at the moment. After breakfast, they decided to explore the ravine a bit, spending the majority of the day leisurely picking their way upstream until they could go no further on hoof. The ravine butted into a solid rock wall beneath which was a wide pool where water bubbled up from underground. Had this place been anywhere else, it would be a very nice swimming hole; Moonstruck almost wished the summer heat would ramp up so that she could take advantage of it.

The next two days passed in a similar manner, for which Moonstruck was grateful. She was still shaky at such an extreme altitude, and while Joseph had been cryptic at best about what they were waiting for, he had informed her bluntly that they would have a narrow window of opportunity to pass through the mountains, and she should be prepared for some serious flying. A few days of laziness seemed like the ideal situation. She was fairly certain she'd only be able to handle some serious high altitude flying once in a blue moon.

She packed her things shortly before sunset the third day, then hopped up onto a large stump at the edge of the creek. The scattered trees growing in the ravine were of the small, scraggly, high altitude type, but this stump seemed to hint that this plateau perhaps wasn't as high up as it is now at some point in the past. Joseph fluttered across the creek to alight on a standing stone. Moonstruck envied his agility for a moment. Though she was a much stronger flier than she had been at the start of her journey, and she could take off with relative ease now even with her lingering aches and pains, there was something about the way the dragon moved that made it look so effortless.

"So, are you gonna finally tell me what we're waiting for, or what?" She drawled, half closing her eyes to watch the sun travel through the red sky towards the circular gaps in the peaks opposite the valley.

"Just sunset." Joseph said.

"And what's so special about sunset today?" Moonstruck lifted a brow and eyed the dragon bemusedly. He was smirking over there on his rock.

"Really? You haven't figured it out yet?" He turned to look at her, smirk edging in on more of a grin.

She scowled. Was it really that obvious? She stared out to the west again, noted that the sun was almost perfectly lined up with the strange rock formations.

"It's gonna set in the rings?"

"Yup."

"This is significant because...?"

"Where are we standing?"

She gave him an odd look. "In a ravine on this bucking high plateau."

"A ravine the lines up _perfectly_ with those rings." He inclined his snout to the geography in question.

Moonstrucks eyebrows shot up towards her forelock as she whirled to inspect the landscape ahead. He was right, those two mountains – more specifically the gravity defying, nearly perfectly circular formations - lined up with this little ravine. She inspected the walls of the ravine, running her eyes over each little furrow of rock, the placement of each boulder. Now that she had an idea what to look for, she noted that the canyon walls appeared as though they'd been blasted out of the plateau, not eroded with the flow of the river. There were even long furrows in the walls that reminded her somewhat of a particular combat spell that acted almost like a drill...

Moonstruck felt her jaw drop open. "Someone blasted those mountains – and this one."

"Dunno for sure, but it sure looks like it." Joseph nodded.

"Someone..." She worked her jaw around a little. "Some _pony_ had enough raw power to destroy mountains. And they _used that power_."

"Seems like."

"Wha – what direction was it coming from? In or out?" Moonstruck sputtered.

"Outside, I think." Joseph scratched his jaw. "I've only flown over the broken peaks once – it's crazy up there – but the outer peak is wider than the inner. And – well, you know how big this ravine is. My guess is that someone shot some kinda spell towards Roanamia and it bounced off a shield."

Moonstruck found herself nodding along. Celestia had mentioned something about throwing everything they had at the shield Lucena had erected, but she hadn't thought it would be something strong enough to rend mountains!

"When the shield broke, it took everything with it. Time, space, the landscape..."

"Seems logical," Joseph nodded. "Okay, get ready."

Moonstruck bit her lip as she glanced up at the sun sinking into the mountainous rings, feeling like she was on the cusp of figuring out something vital, but unsure of what dots she needed to connect to complete that portion of the picture. The feeling left her as the sun slid into the rings and she felt the world ooze around her.

"Go! Go!" Joseph shouted, whirling and taking flight. Moonstruck lunged after him as he mightily pumped his wings to zoom deeper into the ravine. She kept pace well enough; the canyon was too narrow for the broad winged dragon to fly too quickly, and the landscape seemed to be oozing around a bit as they went, though she wasn't sure if it was actually shifting, or if her altitude sickness was acting up again. All the while the sun shone intensely on their backs, and starkly illuminated the way ahead, boulders and stunted trees along the creek bed casting long, ominous shadows. They reached what should have been the end of the ravine with its inviting pool, and were greeted instead by rock walls that towered hundreds of feet overhead, and a canyon that extended for miles further into the plateau. A wild river roared through the canyon below, not a placid creek.

The sun still lingered on their backs as they raced into this new portion of ravine, twisted through a complicated maze of canyons and crevasses beyond. Moonstruck knew logically that they were no longer flying due east, and that the sun should be below the distant mountains by now, but the golden light seemed reluctant to fade, and they were doing their best to ride it as far as they could. All the while, her ears popped constantly, and the walls of whatever gorge they were barreling down grew ever taller, even though they had remained mostly level as near as she could tell. Then, they rounded a corner, flipped into an upside down dive and into intense darkness. Moonstruck felt her stomach churn as she felt the world heave around her. Her ears did a sickening, off kilter quadruple pop, then a horizon appeared in front of her, dotted with a few high scattered clouds, and emerging stars. She was fairly certain she'd been upside down, but now she was right side up. She was also fairly certain she would puke soon.

Joseph slowed and gestured for her to veer to the right. She did so, and found herself slicing past a tall outcropping of rock. She drifted out further from it, swinging over a ridge to see a chain of rocky foothills sweeping away from her, and a wide valley in the near distance. A vast city filled much of the valley, and a great, twisted tower rose out of the very center of the metropolis, rising high above to rival the mountains. And at the very top of the tower...

"Get down! Dive! Land! Land!" Joseph barked.

Moonstruck happily did as told, tucking her wings and sweeping into a steep dive. She landed heavily on a boulder strewn slope near a tangle of dead trees, took a shaky breath, then promptly vomited into the dust. Joseph landed while she was emptying out her stomach. He stepped over and absently patted her on the back.

"I don't... I don't think it saw us." He hissed, as she quieted down.

"What in blue blazes was that?" She choked, sitting down and squeezing her eyes shut.

"The Eye of Magmanus."

"I think I've heard of a spell like that. The eyes aren't usually so big."

She wrinkled her snout. Floating atop the tall tower in the center of the city had been a great, glowing green eye with a slitted pupil. Like a cat, or a dragon. It seemed to have been staring straight at them. There was a scrying spell that was similar; it manifested a floating, disembodied replica of the eye of the caster, and it could be sent around to spy on things. The spell was not widely used, as it was a difficult, high level, and costly spell to preform, but it turned up quite often in role playing games.

"Can it see this far?"

"I don't know." Joseph shook his head. "It didn't seem to react to us. We might be out of range, or Magmanus might be deeply asleep."

"He keeps it going even in his sleep?" She grimaced. "That must take up a ton of energy."

Joseph shrugged. "No idea. I dunno how it works, I just know to stay out of sight."

Moonstruck grunted, heaved a sigh, and got to her hooves. Silently they moved upwind and in to the grove of dead trees. There would be no fire tonight, she knew. If these mountains were as closely watched as Sarah and Joseph claimed, even a dim light spell would be like a beacon. Thankfully there was just enough lingering twilight to navigate by, and they were able to find a thicket to bed down in without much trouble.

Moonstruck had hoped to get a full nights sleep, and set off after dawn, but Joseph shook her awake an hour or so before sun-up. The way out of Roanamia was nearby, and it could only be accessed at dawn or dusk, it seemed. She reluctantly packed what few things she'd dared to pull out of her saddlebags, then set off after the dragon. She hadn't seen him this nervous before; out on the Equestria side of things, and even past the crystal mine he'd been extremely relaxed, but here he moved silently, and paused often to listen, or sniff around bushes, or he'd stand perfectly still and stare at something she couldn't see for a few tense moments. He was behaving like a small, non-magical animal. She supposed she couldn't blame him; if an extremely territorial dragon of monstrous proportions was sleeping somewhere in these mountains, she'd be nervous too.

She shook her head. There actually was an extremely territorial, monstrous dragon sleeping out here somewhere! And an evil alicorn queen down in the city who seemed to make a hobby of rounding up and enslaving the few free pegasus who lived in her queendom, _and_ said queen had the power to control dragons. Moonstruck should, by all rights, be shaking in her boots (which she forgot to pack). She wasn't sure why she wasn't. Perhaps she was just too mentally tired to really grasp the situation.

Tired, and too busy trying to remember how they were getting to wherever they were going. This stretch of hills was broken up much like the hills on the Equestria side of the divide, so being able to retrace her steps would be vital if, for some reason, she and Joseph were separated.

She froze as Joseph did, and looked around, swiveling her ears to try to pinpoint any stray noises. There weren't any. There weren't any noises at all; there should be a plethora of animals up and about at this hour, but everything was unnaturally still. Apparently satisfied, Joseph started off again, moving at a good clip across a dried up riverbed, then up the embankment on the other side in a series of wing-assisted leaps. Moonstruck followed suit, and looked back for a moment to confirm that nothing moved behind them. The only signs of life in the riverbed were their respective prints and a few wilted plants growing between some of the larger rocks This gave her pause.

"Hey, Joseph?" She whispered.

"Mm?" He grunted.

"Hoofprints."

"What, where?"

"Ours." Moonstruck turned to look at him as he bounded back. "Is it okay to leave tracks?"

He relaxed slightly. "Here, yes. There's no getting to this area without already knowing how to get here." He inclined his snout to more distant hilltops peeking above a nearby ridge. "There, not so much."

Moonstruck frowned, then started off after the dragon again. That certainly complicated things. It meant she, at least, had to keep largely to the air. Her raven illusion was excellent, but she'd still leave pony tracks if she were to land and walk around. She mulled over an alternative disguise as they picked their way up an old rock slide; bounding quickly from boulder to boulder, then doubling back on a slightly different route, then going back along their previous route in something of a figure eight pattern. They reached the top of the slide after the third loop, then jogged along a jagged ridge for a short while. The ridge led them to a narrow crevasse between two towering peaks. The crevasse gave them passage to a small, triangular canyon beneath three conical peaks. There was a pool of water at its base – the first water she'd seen all morning. It was very dry on this side of the mountains.

"Okay, this is how it works," Joseph said, gesturing to the pool. "You can only get here just before dawn, or right after dusk, but you can only get out at noon, when the sun is directly over the pool."

"Remember the swimming hole back at the ravine in the plateau? This pool connects directly to it. At noon, fly up to where the sun is at your back, and dive in; there won't be any water, just darkness. Just keep flying straight, you'll pop up on the other side in a couple of minutes. The water's on the other side – you'll be able to see it as you approach, so you'll know when to hold your breath."

"Trippy." Moonstruck grunted.

"Very. Even I start to panic going this way, but it's the most direct route." He ruffled his wings. "Anyway, the stable parts of the landscape come almost all the way up to the higher mountains here, so it's not hard to find the right path to get here, if you know where to start. If you can outpace your pursuers, they'll just get lost once you're in."

He started back the way they had come in. "I wonder if Sarah accidentally hit one of these spots, and that airship was following close enough to keep up." He mused.

"Probably. How many other places like this are there?" Moonstruck fell into step beside him, for the path was wide enough for two, at this point.

"Maybe a half dozen, that I know of" He scratched the back of his head. "Some are more confusing than others. I wouldn't have thought to dive into the pool if others hadn't told me about it."

"Yeah, was wonderin' about that." Moonstruck grunted. "So... does your kind come and go out here a lot?"

"Er... sorta. Kinda happens in waves as dragons come of age and decide to do dumb stuff." He grinned.

Moonstruck chuckled. They fell into a comfortable silence as the path narrowed and they were forced to trot single file. The sun was up by the time they emerged from the crevasse, which made the going much easier for Moonstruck, but put Joseph on high alert. They exited the distorted chunk of real estate and took to the air, soaring above half-dead forests and vast stretches of dry grass and scrublands with dark stretches of blackened earth and charred stumps where wildfires had once raged. With the sun up, Moonstruck realized that it wasn't simply a desert on this side of the mountains; Roanamia seemed to be in the midst of a very bad drought. Entire forests stood parched, indicating that at some point in the past this entire region was lush and green. Finding water would be a trick, as would securing enough food to last her however long it would take to gather some useful information. The landscape being sparser than usual also meant that they'd have to be extra cautious about where they traveled on the ground; hoof prints would be plainly visible from quite a distance up, and there was less cover to hide in.

They spent a bit of time meandering through the higher parts of the foothills, though below most ridges to stay out of sight of the Eye, trying to decide how they wanted to proceed. Camping would be rougher than usual on account of the various problems involved in having a fire, and the need to be able to flee at a moments notice if they were discovered, so maintaining a sort of base was out, unless they could find a suitable cave to hole up in for short periods of time. Moonstruck would need to venture out of the foothills in the guise of a raven to do some proper spying, though the lack of birds in the area made her a little hesitant to do so. If most of the wild animals had moved on, a lone raven hanging around might seem suspicious. It _was_ possible that birds simply didn't venture this far into the hills, and that they'd find some at lower altitudes.

In the meanwhile, it occurred to her that flying around as an alicorn probably wasn't a good idea. When they finally stopped for breakfast in a decaying grove of tragically parched trees, she experimentally cast a few simple spells, then donned her plain 'ol pegasus illusion, slightly modified from what she'd used to travel up to Stirrup Springs. She didn't bother making herself shorter, simply glossed over her horn, and left herself otherwise unchanged; she likely looked ragged enough to pass for one of the local pegasai anyhow.

"Mmm, oh yeah, any chance we'll bump into any pegasus out here?" She asked as she settled into her illusion, noting that her head only hurt a little from the magical effort. It was simple enough, she should be able to maintain it for several hours at a time. Thankfully she'd slept off the bulk of her altitude sickness and was only slightly dizzy, though her wings continued to ache in places. She found the feeling familiar, in a way, but she couldn't place it.

"Possible, but unlikely." Joseph grunted. "They're extremely secretive, and with this drought they've probably moved to greener pastures."

"Right." Moonstruck nodded absently, scanning the sky. "I wonder if that means fewer patrols out here."

"We'll probably find out soon enough." Joseph grimaced.

They finished up their meal, then set off again, gliding towards the east to circle around to the farthest spur of the foothills and the vast plains of Roanham. Theoretically there should be small villages out in that direction, since the city of Bridle-Dur extended up into the lower foothills, in every direction but north, where the valley opened up into the plains. Moonstruck knew better than to go poking around in a suburb of a big city. A small town a decent distance from a major metropolitan area she could sneak around with relative ease, but suburbs were too close to the main hub for comfort. If something went wrong in the suburbs, it would be more difficult to escape, but in an outlying town she'd likely be well out of the area before any serious threats could arrive.

Unless the whole spy network was super efficient, then it may not matter where she goes snooping around. She was beginning to wonder what Celestia actually expected her to do here if security is as tight as Joseph and Sarah claimed.

They stopped for a breather around noon in another grove of desiccated trees. Moonstruck sparingly sipped her water, and partially filled a bowl for Joseph, who was having trouble remembering where all of the watering holes were.

"The drought must have gotten worse from the last time I was here." He noted as they relaxed in the shade for a few minutes. It was quite warm here, far warmer than the crescent valley they'd departed from just a few days ago. Moonstruck was tempted to snooze for a while in the shade, and set off near sunset. Night flying might be a better idea in this weather.

"When was the last time you were here?" Moonstruck asked around a mouthful of dry grass.

"I dunno, fifteen, twenty years ago. It's been dry here for a long time, but not like this." Joseph shrugged. "There should be a few creeks that still have water in them this time of year, but so far I haven't noticed any."

"Might have to go up into the distorted areas." Moonstruck scowled.

"Yeah."

Moonstruck had the sinking feeling that they may only be able to stick around for a week if there wasn't water, nor anything for either of them to forage. She finished up her snack of dried grass, placed the remaining portion back in her saddlebag, and lifted a tuber out of it. She hadn't roasted it, and she wouldn't be able to roast it without being able to start a fire, which was most definitely out.

"I dunno, you think it's hot enough to roast this in the sun?"

"Nowhere near." Joseph chuckled. "Don't you know a spell for that?"

"No." Moonstruck sighed. She put the tuber back in her saddlebag, just in case they ran into a wildfire or something.

Joseph opened his mouth to say something then froze. Moonstruck was about to ask what was wrong when she heard it; wings. Feathered wings. Several pairs. She couldn't place how many, exactly, nor where they were; there were too many echoes. She pulled her saddlebags back on and got to her hooves as Joseph stood up tall and inhaled very deeply.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

They whirled to see a gangly brown pegasus perched on a rock above and behind them. He was young, not much older than Acorn, and he had the same distinctive head, lean build, and large wings as Sarah. "Got us a couple of poachers!"

"What is it, Brian?" Came a second voice from a short distance downwind. Another pegasus came into view; a paint mare that was more white than brown. She was missing most of one ear. "Whoa!"

Then there was a small swarm of pegasai; a dozen in all, swirling overhead then landing in a circle a wary distance away from Moonstruck and Joseph. She noted that they were all fairly young, and in less than ideal health. The main ailment seemed to be lack of food. She saw far too many ribs shifting beneath their earth-tone coats.

"So, you think you can just waltz into some other clans territory and steal all of our food and water, eh?" The first pegasus – Brian – drawled, hopping off the rock and taking a few steps into the circle. "Well, you're wrong."

"Whoa, hold on, we don't want any trouble, we're just passing through." Moonstruck said, taking a step back. This was certainly awkward; these ponies posed no danger to she and Joseph, but they had to act like they did to maintain cover. She was somewhat surprised they weren't particularly phased by the dragons presence.

"No one just passes through these parts." The paint said, snorting a short laugh. "Ponies come out here to try to disappear. Doesn't work though; none of you soft city ponies can last long out here, and the catchers get you anyway."

"Er..." Moonstruck grimaced.

"Hey... hold up, she's a pegasus, but she has one of them fancy magic butt symbols!" A third pony; a buckskin colt said, gesturing to her cutie mark. "I thought only super strong unicorns had those?"

"And what's that bird thing she's got with her?" Queried a sorrel mare.

Moonstruck blinked and exchanged glances with Joseph. They didn't know he was a dragon. And they didn't know what a cutie mark was. She scanned the group, noting that like Sarah, they all lacked cutie marks. And now that she was really paying attention, there was no way she could pass for one of them; they were far more gaunt than she'd expected. None of them had long, curly manes, all of their manes were fairly short, and not by choice. It was simply a result of hard living.

"Er..."

"So what's your deal, you half unicorn or something?" Brian huffed, getting in her face. "You're not all purple or something, at least."

Moonstruck resisted the urge to shove him rather hard, and instead took a timid step back. "Ah ha ha, you got me, I am, actually. It's... it's been troublesome, as you can well imagine..."

The ponies let out disgusted noises and shuffled a few steps back.

"Oh great, she's gotta be some kinda lovechild of a unicorn and his pegasus slave. Probably been pampered and sheltered or something. I mean, look at her, she looks perfectly healthy. Can't have been out here long." The paint mare sneered, rolling her eyes. "Well, guess what sweetheart, adventures over. We should kill her."

There were a few murmured agreements from the others.

"Hold on, hold on, she's still a mare." Brian said, looking her up and down. "A tall, oddly built mare, but a mare."

"We have plenty of mares." The paint snapped. "Besides, for all we know she's a spy. She's already seen too much."

The agreement was a bit louder this time.

"Look, I'll tell you the truth – we're trying to find a way out. Out of Roanamia." Moonstruck huffed, pretending to glance around nervously.

The pegasai burst out laughing, but quickly quieted down, eyes scanning the skies, and ears swiveling rapidly.

"Nobody gets out of Roanamia." Brian shook his head once he and the others seemed to silently agree their short outburst hadn't attracted any attention. "Maybe you're right, Mindy. We should just kill her. And eat her."

"We're not so bad off to resort to cannibalism." The sorrel mare rolled her eyes.

"We will be in a few weeks." The paint – Mindy - muttered. "It didn't rain at all this winter."

"Hey, how about we just leave now, and pretend we never saw you. Problem solved right? We don't use up any of your water – which we haven't even found yet, by the way – or eat any of your food, and you don't have to go to all the effort of killing us."

"I don't think so." Brian shook his head, and stood too close again. "We really do have to kill you."

"Hey! I figured out where all of the rabbits went!" Someone said around a mouthful of something.

Brian half turned, and Moonstruck leaned around him to see a black mare with white socks land a short distance away, she had a rabbit in her jaws. A dead rabbit. Moonstruck felt her blood run cold. They ate meat here?

"Way to ruin the mood Agnes." Brian said flatly.

"What? That's what we were looking for, right?" She gave him a funny look then reached down and tore into the tiny carcass.

 _They eat meat here!_ Moonstruck felt her stomach tie itself into knots as she watched the mare devour the cute fuzzy bunny. Her mind flashed back to Sarah, to her curiously long, sharp canine teeth. She managed to tear her eyes away from the feasting pegasus to look at the other ponies. They gaped their mouths open and licked their lips enviously, revealing teeth better suited to a carnivore. _Of course they do_ , Moonstruck realized, also remembering that the doctor back in Stirrup Springs had mentioned that Sarahs digestive tract was quite different than your average pony. If they'd been in a drought for so long, and nutritious plants were few and far between, you ate whatever you could. And a pegasus needed more calories to fly than an earth-bound pony, so meat was the best option. She wondered vaguely how things were going with Sarah.

"We've got something better than rabbits." Brian scoffed, moving aside so that the newcomer could take a look at their catch.

Agnes looked up, licking blood off her jaws. She'd already eaten the bulk of the rabbit. "Weird. How's this better than rabbits? Can we eat the bird thing?"

"We're gonna eat both of 'em." Brian nodded.

"We are not resorting to cannibalism!" The sorrel mare insisted.

"Yet." Mindy added not quite under her breath.

"Aw, c'mon Brian, that's just gross." Agnes sighed.

"Well, we have to kill them now, may as well make the best of it." He huffed.

Agnes scowled. "You sure we have to kill them?"

"YES! They've seen too much!"

"Have they?"

"They know we're in the general vicinity!"

"Um, really, we'd like to get moving. Just passing through and all." Moonstruck said sheepishly.

"Nobody just passes through out here." Agnes rolled her eyes.

"So I've been told."

"They think they're going to find a way out." The sorrel mare chortled.

Agnes snorted a laugh. "I dunno, she looks weird. And the bird thing might be edible. Might want to take them back to see your uncle and the elder."

"And reveal the location of our home and water source!?" Mindy gaped at her.

Agnes shrugged. "Well, you wanted to kill them anyway, Brians Uncle will probably agree. If the bird thing is edible the whole clan can eat, and we won't have to haul it back in pieces."

"She has a point." Brian noted.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't eat my friend, actually." Moonstruck piped up.

"I second this." Joseph added, much to the surprise of the pegasai.

"It talks!? That changes things." The sorrel mare yelped.

"No it doesn't." Mindy hissed.

"It kinda does." Agnes grunted.

"Uggggh, fine. We'll take them to see Uncle Reggie and the elder. They can decide what to do with them, and whether or not we can eat a bird thing if it talks."

The band nodded their agreement. Before Moonstruck knew it, they were at the center of the formation, flying swiftly through the foothills. She was confident that Joseph could easily out-fly the pegasai, or scare them away with his fire breath, but she wasn't sure if _she_ could. Flying was more than something that these pegasus _did_ ; it was their livelihoods, it was _everything_. If they couldn't fly, they were dead meat. Which meant even the best fliers in Equestria couldn't out preform these ponies – especially not on an empty stomach. She had magic, and could use all kinds of tricks to escape, but she wanted to avoid using magic in anyponies presence for as long as possible. Which meant that for now she needed to play along until such a time that she could slip out of sight for a moment and teleport. It seemed that Joseph was on the same page, and was gliding along placidly behind and a little to the left of her.

It was a relatively short flight over some incredibly rugged country; more vertical than anything else. Moonstruck had a hard time believing that anything other than mountain goats and hawks could ever possibly live out here even with the proper amount of water, and she saw neither. The goats and hawks had probably already moved elsewhere; why these ponies were still here was a mystery. They dipped down into a narrow, rock walled valley that, at one point, seemed to have a mighty river flowing through it, and a few rolling hills of what had once been lush grass and woodland, but was now a barren waste say for a few stubborn bushes here and there, and a tiny, pathetic creek running down the lowest portion of the riverbed.

The breeze shifted, bringing with it the scent of water. Moonstruck pricked her ears up, curious. As they approached, she could hear the water as well, and was surprised to spot a thin waterfall descending from the southern cliffs. Above the waterfall, carved from the living bedrock, was the ruins of a castle long abandoned. She jolted and glanced around at their escort. Sarah had said she was from the Waterfall Castle Clan, could this be her clan?

The pegasai made a b-line for the castle, taking them up to the main gates which had long since rotted away, then landing in the grand courtyard beyond. They trotted into the castle, giving Moonstruck no time to try to date the ruin based on its architecture, and down a set of spiraling stairs. At the bottom was a vast, airy room that looked as though it may have been part of a natural cave system at some point. What was left of the river was here, flowing out of a large, ornately carved opening in the south wall, swirling in a small pool, then gliding out of an opening to the north. The pool of water was much smaller than it should be, Moonstruck noted; the basin was quite large, and took up much of the room. The water itself only occupied what would have been the deepest portion, and it was perhaps only a hundred feet across, and likely not very deep. The smooth cobblestones beneath her hooves were slick with condensation, though they had no moss or algae; it was largely growing where the river entered the room. The cavern was deliciously cool, and lit by a long line of tall windows that opened up to the north.

"Uncle, we have captured intruders and possibly food!" Brian shouted as they approached another dozen ponies that were surrounding the pool. The second half of the group seemed to consist largely of ponies minding young foals, and a few who were carefully harvesting moss off of the stones near the rivers entrance.

"Intruders?" A largeish stallion with a dappled gray coat, and a scar across his snout said, stepping away from the group of moss harvesters,

Most of their escort trotted over to the pool to drink water, nibble on moss, and visit with younger siblings or nieces and nephews, leaving Moonstruck and Joseph to stand awkwardly by themselves.

"Uh... hi. We were just passing through – I know, I know, nopony does that. But we were. We'd appreciate it if you didn't kill and or eat us." Moonstruck grinned nervously.

The stallion whom was likely Brians Uncle Reggie paused a short distance away, glaring daggers at them. The rest of the clan gathered behind him. Though he was large in comparison to the other ponies, he was still a good five inches shorter than Moonstruck at the shoulder, which made her feel more out of place than she already did. She wasn't used to being taller than everyone.

"Also, it would be super nice, but totally not necessary if you'd let us refill our canteens." Joseph added cautiously, also grinning.

"Oh, yeah, we want to at least eat the bird thing," Brian supplied helpfully. "I don't think it matters if it talks."

"It doesn't." Reggie grunted, staring hard at Moonstruck, then at Joseph. "Well, she ain't from around here, that's for sure. Where you two headed."

"Out." Moonstruck shifted her weight. "Out of here. Out of Roanamia."

Not surprisingly, the pegasai all erupted into condescending laughter.

"Oh, this is rich!" Reggie guffawed. "We're practically out of food, the river has been getting lower by the day, catchers have been scouring the area for months since they managed to catch a few of us, and now we've got some pampered city half-breed mare trying to get out of the country. What's the matter sugar? Got tired of eating every day?"

The character that Moonstruck was currently playing was quite insulted. "I'm trying to find a way out to get help for _everypony_. Including you and your clan." She said through gritted teeth. "And I don't see what me being half unicorn has to do with anything. And how do you even _know_ , I'm half?"

"Nobody 'round these parts has a curly mane, or a short snout, or one of them fancy magic butt symbols. Everyone knows only unicorns have short snouts and the magic stuff." Reggie smirked. "Besides, you ain't in rough enough shape to just be from some other clan. And a mare from another clan would just _know better_."

Moonstruck scowled, she couldn't get a read on this guy. She didn't think he'd kill in cold blood, but at the same time, he probably wouldn't hesitate if he genuinely felt his clan would be better off. She didn't have time to challenge him to a round of cards to know for sure, and she was fairly certain he wouldn't know how to play, anyway.

"Look, we really are just passing through. We don't want any trouble."

"Shoulda thought of that before you left home. Kill her, and the bird thing. I wouldn't normally kill a talking critter, but the foals are hungry." Reggie said cooly and a touch apologetically, lowering his head as several other largeish stallions fanned out behind him.

"You don't have a chance against that one, Reginald." Came a voice that was somehow small and old, but still strong enough to resonate with a wizened clarity.

The stallions jerked their heads up and looked back towards the river as Reggie let out a long suffering sigh.

"What is it this time?"

An old mare walked slowly, but steadily into view. She was thinner than all the others (which was quite the accomplishment), with an iron gray mane and tail. She was a paint, mostly brown with white splashes, and the wrinkles around her dark eyes were heavy, and sad. She very much resembled Sarah. Or, perhaps, Sarah very much resembled her.

"That's a dragon. You'd be dead before you could land a kick on him." Said the old mare.

The stallions took a step back as Joseph grinned and let out a small puff of smoke.

She ran a critical eye over Moonstruck. "And she's a lot stronger than you think, and healthy. It'd take the whole clan to kill her, and she'd take out a few of us before she goes down. Not worth the hassle."

"Glenda..." Reggie sighed. "You know how it works."

"I know. But I also know a lost cause. I'm lookin' at one right now." She quipped, eyeing the stallion sharply. "Best to let them have a bit of water, then send 'em on their way. No trouble, right?"

"Right." Moonstruck nodded.

"So, how'd you know I'm a dragon." Joseph asked, crossing his arms over his chest/crop region and shifting his weight.

"I've seen your kind before, a long time ago. I was just a fledgling. I know you all come and go from here sometimes. Might live way up high in the mountains, might come in from outside. Either way, you know your way around." She said, inspecting the dragon cooly. "And you know the way out. Or if you don't, you can find it."

"Glenda, we all know there is no way out." Reggie said gently. "I know you want to believe that your granddaughter managed to escape, but - "

"She is alive!" Glenda huffed, stamping a hoof. "I can feel it in my bones. She is alive, and she is out of this forsaken place!"

Reggie closed his eyes and hung his head.

Moonstruck exchanged glances with Joseph, wincing inwardly. It was entirely possible that Glenda was Sarahs grandmother. It was taking all of her willpower not to break character and spill every last bean she was holding.

"And you're already aware that venturing out into the broken parts of the mountains may well be the only way the clan will survive." Glenda added, breathing a little heavily. "Even if she didn't make it out, she may be up there somewhere, out of reach of the Watchers and Catchers."

Reggie nodded, eyes still closed. He heaved a heavy sigh, then looked up at Moonstruck and Joseph, then over at Glenda, who was shaking slightly, but still staring evenly at him. Her body was weak, but her eyes were sharp as blades, and bright as dragon fire.

"Alright, you can have some water. No food. If we see either of you again, we will kill you." Reggie said after a long pause. "You owe Elder Glenda your thanks. And her missing granddaughter – normally I would not be so forgiving."

He cast them a stern look, threw a somewhat sour one at the old mare, then spun and walked away. Moonstruck sighed and slumped with relief. Reggie had not gone ten paces before a pegasus burst in from one of the windows, in a panic and out of breath.

"Catchers! Catchers coming in from the Northeast! They're heading straight towards us! We have ten, maybe fifteen minutes!" She shouted, landing haphazardly, then collapsing.

"What direction did you come from!?" Reggie barked at his nephew.

"Uhhhh... Southwest. More south, than west." Brian said timidly, eyes darting around as ponies began bolting towards the south wall, where several ornately carved doorways stood, likely leading back into the mountain, and to freedom.

"Bad timing then. EVERYONE OUT!" Reggie bellowed "GET THE FOALS READY TO FLY!"

"Now what!?" Moonstruck yelped, dancing in place.

"I think we get to evacuate." Joseph said, watching the organized chaos with trepidation. "But probably not with them."

"Guess we could go out the front, I can... uh... hide us." Moonstruck muttered. It wasn't necessary to be quiet, the room was already empty; the last echoes of hooves and a few scared cries of foals rang dully out of the emergency exit tunnel and merged with the soft babbling of the river.

Moonstruck spun and started towards the stairwell at a trot, puzzling over how to cast an invisibility spell over herself, and Joseph. She'd done it before, but it had not worked out quite as planned. Thankfully the particular spell that she'd cast had a time limit on it, otherwise, they'd probably still be looking for Acorn in the back yard.

It took her a few steps to realize that the dragon was not trotting along behind her. She paused and looked over her shoulder, surprised to see him still standing where they had been, staring over at the pool. The chamber was not as empty as she had previously thought; one mare remained, seated at the waters edge. Moonstruck pulled her ears back and scowled. Then she put her head down and cantered over to Joseph.

"Did they abandon her here?" She hissed as she clattered to a stop next to the dragon.

"When everyone bolted, she just sat down by the water." He frowned. "Sometimes, in times of famine elders will starve themselves so that the youngest can eat. She might be too weak to fly."

Moonstruck swore under her breath. Glenda certainly looked like she had been eating far less than the others – and they probably barely ate at all. She and Joseph started moving at the same time, she wasn't sure what they could do to help her escape, but they could at least give her some closure.

"Don't worry about me," Glenda said as they approached, her voice sounding smaller and weaker than before. "They won't bother with such an old nag."

"Sarah is your granddaughter." Joseph said bluntly.

Glenda sat upright, and gaped up at the dragon, dark eyes wide with shock. "How did you - ?"

"I saw her come over the crest of the mountains. She made it out. Barely. I helped her down the other side." Joseph said. He locked eyes with the old mare and tilted his snout downwards slightly.

"So she is...?" Glenda gasped, tearing up.

"Doing quite well, I'd assume. She was pretty beat up when I saw her, but recovering. She's with good ponies." Moonstruck said casually. She stared down at the water, noted that the water level was a little low to touch her horn to the waters surface. She let the illusion fall from her features, and cast a spell that allowed her to walk on water. She plopped off the edge and trotted out a short distance.

"You – how - ?" Glenda gaped at her, then spotted her horn. She scrambled back, but bumped into Joseph. "You – you're – you're a - !"

"Alicorn. Yeah. Kinda useful sometimes." Moonstruck said, waiting for the ripples from her hooves to settle down before she cast her spell. "We were lying earlier. We _are_ spies. But not from Lucena. From outside." She lowered her head and touched the tip of her horn to the water and let the memories she had of Sarah play out in the rippling pool.

Glenda stared down at the enchanted reflection in a strange mix of awe, and horror that gradually changed to hope. Likely the sight of Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance was disturbing, but seeing her granddaughter up and about, being treated as an honored guest should be encouraging, at the very least. Glenda reached a hoof out towards the last image Moonstruck had of Sarah, then collapsed onto her belly.

"My granddaughter... my granddaughter was all I had left. Catchers took so many of my family..." She said, her voice wavering, tears streaming down her face. She shakily stood and opened her wings, staring Moonstruck dead in the eye.

"How do you I know you're not lying? That this isn't some cruel trick!?"

"Um... good question, actually." Moonstruck said, shifting her weight as a faint twinge resonated behind her eyes. She let the mirror memory spell fade, though the twinge continued to twitch away.

"What would we gain from fooling you?" Joseph asked. "I mean, who'd want a flock of half starved pegasai?"

"You'd be surprised." Glenda snorted.

"I'm pretty sure I have more food in my saddlebags than you have here. Not water though." Moonstruck added. "And he actually does know how to get up into the distorted areas, and there's probably better foraging up there."

Joseph nodded. "And I know how to get out."

"Yeah, I mean, we just got here last night. And I'm still kinda nauseous from the whole trip." Moonstruck shrugged.

"Plus, it's actually really stupid to even be standing here talking to you," Joseph pointed out. "You've got catchers coming in, and she's supposed to be super incognito."

"Oooh, good one. I'm not even supposed to be seen by anypony, much less talk to them. Which kind of makes the whole spying thing kinda difficult." Moonstruck mused, then scowled at the spiral staircase across the room. "We should probably get going."

"Alright, I believe you." Glenda said, shaking her head and carefully folding her wings. "Unless you're an incredible actor, you're not smart enough to do something so cruel as to toy with an old mares heart."

"Nope." Moonstruck nodded. There was a large crash from somewhere overhead, and the sound of many hooves thundering across the courtyard above.

"I thought they said ten or fifteen minutes?!" Moonstruck barked as she fluttered back onto shore. She landed and stumbled, her vision swimming in and out of focus. "Aw, not now..."

"What, what!?" Joseph asked, trotting over.

"I think that memory spell and the water walking spell was a little much." She grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut. It didn't really hurt, but she felt far more tired that she should, and her stomach seemed convinced she was on a boat in rough seas.

"Fantastic." Joseph grumbled. "I guess I could just take them all out or something."

"You - you can't escape?" Glenda asked, staring back and forth from dragon to alicorn.

"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'." Moonstruck muttered, she listened to the approaching ponies as she lifted her head and walked in a small circle, trying to shake of the nausea. Illusions were out, invisibility was out, combat was out, though Joseph could put a big dent in 'em. She probably couldn't fly well at the moment. She opened her eyes and stared at the dragon and old mare. There had to be a way out of this. Then it hit her.

 _Magical_ illusions were out; the best illusions often didn't require any magic at all. She'd already dropped her magical illusion, so now everypony and their dogs would know she was an alicorn. An alicorn was always royalty. Royalty always got special treatment. She let out a shaky breath.

"Okay, I'm going to spin some serious horse apples here, so just play along. Glenda just, try not to cower too much, look like you're right where you belong."

She cautiously and – ah, there it was now – painfully transferred her saddlebags to the old mare while pulling her cloak out. She was very glad that the packs bore no identifying marks.

"Joseph, whatever you do, look official."

"Uhhh?"

She draped her cloak across her back, tossed her mane, then marched over to the edge of the pool as the rain of hoofbeats made it to the bottom of the spiral stairs.

"It's a shame they let this place fall into ruin," Moonstruck said loudly, "What's left of the architecture is quite lovely. And the waterfall is oh so quaint!"

Joseph gave her an odd look. She blinked at him a few times, then looked over her shoulder at the approaching catchers. They were unicorns, for the most part; with a few earth ponies here and there hauling large cages. They all wore dark brown uniforms with pendants and insignia's of a large, green eye with a slitted pupil. There were almost a hundred in all, which was a little surprising, though Moonstruck figured it'd take quite a few to round up a full herd of feral pegasai.

"Well! It's about time somepony showed up! I was beginning to think we'd wander around in these blasted mountains forever!" She adopted her most snobbish tones, and held her head high, half turning to regard the charging unicorns.

The ponies slowed as they realized she was neither earth pony, nor pegasus. She scowled and wrinkled her nose, casting her gaze across them shrewdly.

"Well? Who are you? What's all this? Who's in charge here?"

"Um... Ma'am, this is a restricted area." Said one stallion hesitantly, flicking his eyes over to Joseph (who'd had the place of mind to look tall and imposing), and Glenda (who was standing awkwardly half hidden beyond Joseph). "No one is allowed past the gates into the mountains, you will have to - "

"Excuse me?" Moonstruck stamped a hoof. "I have no idea where I am. I was a part of a trade caravan that got caught in a particularly nasty thunderstorm. My carriage was hit by lightening and my escort was killed in the crash. Though thankfully my bodyguard and maid were both unharmed." She inclined her head towards the dragon and pegasus. "We've been out here for months!"

The silence in the chamber was so thick it could be cut with a dull knife.

"Where are you from?" The stallion, whom Moonstruck decided must be the highest ranking officer, said slowly.

"Bananalund, by way of Timberwhisp." She added a healthy dose of annoyance to her voice. "What does it matter? We're half starved, and I haven't had a hooficure in _ages_!"

"Bananalund?" The stallion asked, wrinkling his nose.

"The Banana capitol of the United Equid Confederacy. On the southern coast? South of Equestria? Timberwhisp is on the north eastern edge of Griffon territory. We were en route to the Eastern Nations when we were thrown off course."

Moonstruck stood corrected, _this_ silence could be cut with a dull knife. Possibly a spoon.

"Wait, wait, are you saying you're from outside Roanamia? From beyond the mountains?" The stallion asked, taking a step forward and eyeing her critically.

"Yes, where else would I be from? Roanamia has been lost for eons." Moonstruck scoffed. "Are you saying _this_ is Roanamia? Such a poorly run country, I must say."

The unicorns erupted into bawdy laughter. Moonstruck externally fumed, and internally laughed along with them, though they weren't in on the joke as deeply as she was.

"Alright boys, pack 'em up. These three get to tell their little story to the inquisitors back at the base." He nodded, and a dozen unicorns closed in on the trio. "Relay a message back to the airship: we have a rogue unicorn who's probably completely off her rocker, and a... bird... dragon... thing to deal with."

Moonstruck lifted her head and stared down her nose at them like they taught her in charm school, stamped a back hoof and flared her wings, which also had the effect of billowing her cloak dramatically.

"This is an outrage! I refuse to be treated like a common criminal, and I demand to speak to someone in charge _at once_!"

* * *

A/N: Long chapter. And rank pulling!


	15. Chapter 14

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

It was amazing how small minded individuals reacted to the unexpected sight of an alicorn in their midst. The catchers froze in abject terror, eyes glued to Moonstruck. If Moonstruck wasn't worried about them suddenly snapping out of it, she, Joseph and Glenda could have simply walked away. Alas, their shock was short lived, and soon enough they were being frantically apologized to, then escorted out of the cave room beneath the castle and back up to the courtyard above, where still more unicorns awaited with much larger cages, and netting, and sullen looking earth ponies pulling cruel wagons. A wave of murmurs preceded them as the strange procession made its way through the parting crowd. Moonstruck inspected the troops out of the corner of her eye, taking note of what sort of weapons they carried, how fit the unicorns looked, how many of them had cutie marks, and whether or not they'd managed to catch any fleeing pegasai. The cages and nets stood empty, so it was possible that their dalliance had bought the clan more time.

As for the weapons, there were few. Officers had throwing knives that they could fling with telekinesis; lower ranking soldiers had clubs that they could wield with their mouths. Nopony had a cutie mark. She was fairly confident that most of these unicorns could only use the most basic of spells.

There was a rushed conversation between the officer in charge of the group that was escorting them, and another high ranking pony; worried and confused glances were cast in their direction, then they were led over to an extendable walk way that stretched to a massive airship that was drifting placidly beyond the castle walls, out of sight of most ponies in the courtyard. Several smaller airships were tethered beyond it, though they lacked any way to reach the ground. It was likely that they merely flew support. Each smaller airship seemed to have some sort of cannon attached to it; Moonstruck suspected that it threw nets. They were similar in design to the airship seen from Stirrup Springs, though Moonstruck felt they were smaller. That could simply have been a trick of the magical distortion.

She glanced briefly at Glenda to make sure she was keeping it together, and was heartened to see that while the mares eyes were wide, and wild, she stared fixedly ahead, and did not hesitate to step willingly onto a walkway that likely led to a life of torture and hard labor of so many of her kin. Moonstruck wasn't sure about her entire plan of action, but seeing to it that Glenda survived, and was reunited with her granddaughter was at the top of her priorities list.

"Admiral Desmond will speak to you now." Said a slim, prim mare in narrow spectacles and a uniform that looked like it had been chiseled out of stone. Her mane was pulled up into a bun so tight that it appeared painful. "Follow me."

"Finally, someone who knows what's going on!" Moonstruck huffed, tossing her mane as she stepped into the airship, Joseph and Glenda in tow. It was considerably cooler inside, which Moonstruck found impressive. Either it had a top notch air conditioner, or somepony was quite good at climate control spells. The mare took her through a maze of wood and brass corridors that Moonstruck would be hard pressed to backtrack through, then stopped outside a set of large, ornate wood doors.

"Your staff must wait here." Said the prim pony in clipped tones, scrutinizing Joseph and Glenda critically over the top of her glasses.

"Of course." Moonstruck inclined her head, then threw a meaningful glance at Joseph. _Stay on your guard._

Joseph nodded once, crossed his arms over his chest/crop region, and turned so that his tail was to the door. He made a very intimidating bodyguard. Glenda, thankfully, shuffled over to stand behind him in the corner, eyes downcast, which worked wonderfully well.

Moonstruck marveled for a moment that all of this was working out so well thus far, then used her magic to open the double doors and march in to the surprisingly spacious office beyond. One would assume that space would be at a premium on such a ship, but clearly this only applied to common soldiers. The admiral was at his desk, a hunched figure with a chestnut coat, and a short cropped mane going over paperwork. He did not hold the paper up with magic, Moonstruck noted. He also didn't look up at her when she burst into the room. This was likely a subtle power play. She felt inclined to shatter it.

"My goodness, what in blazes is going on in these parts!? This is quite possibly the worst run country I have ever set hoof in!" She said before he could speak.

Admiral Desmond flicked his eyes up, then did a double take. He had perhaps been planning on brushing her off as some sort of high strung nuisance, but the sight of her wings slightly fanned, her horn glistening in the afternoon sun, and her oh-so prominent cutie mark seemed to have forced him to change strategies. He recovered better than his underlings at least; he only stared for a few seconds.

"F-forgive me, I was told someone extraordinary had appeared, and I had not quite expected your highness." He said, standing, then moving around his desk, where he had enough space to bow deeply. He was not a tall stallion, but he was powerfully built. He bore a cutie mark but it was oddly faint. Moonstruck did not chance staring at it long enough to figure out what it was.

"I was unaware that Queen Lucena had any living relatives aside from the prince, and her cousin."

"I have no idea who that is." Moonstruck batted her eyes and sniffed. "I am Duchess Angelina Francesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III of Bananalund."

It was a ridiculous name; it was the first thing that had popped into her head, and for reasons unknown, no one was questioning it. Granted, everypony here had some pretty weird names, but she was pretty sure this one was absurd _everywhere_. It was difficult to keep a straight face, but she was determined to see the joke to the very end.

Admiral Desmond hesitated for a moment. "I...see."

"It's a part of the United Equid Confederacy. South of Equestria? As you can likely surmise, our chief export is bananas." Moonstruck half closed her eyes.

"I am afraid I do not know what a banana is." The Admiral shifted his weight. "But... I do take it you are from _outside_ Roanamia, then?"

" _Yes._ " Moonstruck sighed heavily. "I have been trying to explain to your underlings that my caravan was thrown off course in a thunderstorm. I have no idea how we ended up here, but we have been wandering these blasted mountains for _weeks_! Possibly longer, for all I know. Things are so strange here! And nopony seems to have any clue what I'm talking about!"

"There is a shield around this country that cannot be penetrated." The admiral said slowly, carefully. "And the closer you get to the shield, the more distorted the landscape becomes. No one gets in, no one gets out."

"Well, that certainly explains a few things." Moonstruck huffed. She certainly hadn't noticed a shield in place, though it was possible that the ponies living here had been convinced there was. It was also possible that the spell that was throbbing through the crystal mines was the remains of a shield spell that had deteriorated and become corrupted over the eons.

"Yes. Though I don't see how you could have gotten past all that."

"Nor do I, but here we are." Moonstruck spread her wings wide for a moment, then folded them neatly at her flanks.

Admiral Desmond frowned deeply. "This will require a higher authority."

"I will require accommodations befitting myself and my staff." If Moonstruck was going to be stuck with some crazy unicorn slavers for a while, she was getting a decent meal and a hot bath out of it.

"Of course, your grace. I will have my staff prepare the VIP suite." He bowed his head. "Oh... by the way, did you encounter anyone while you were wandering the mountains? Any wild pegasai?"

Moonstruck looked him dead in the eye. "Not a soul."

* * *

As soon as the door to the moderately spacious VIP suite on the catchers airship shut, Moonstruck cast a quick spell to check for the standard array of eavesdropping devices both mechanical and arcane. Thankfully it was a very minor spell and it didn't cause much pain. She slumped as soon as she knew the room was clear. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna puke."

"So much for going unseen." Joseph rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but now we get VIP treatment. Glenda, you can have anything edible in my saddlebags."

"HOW IS THIS BETTER!?" Glenda yelped as Joseph lifted the bags off of her back and started rooting around in them. "HOW IS THIS ESCAPING!?"

"Easy, we're guests, not prisoners." Moonstruck sat down on a cushion. The first cushion her rump had met with in quite some time. It was a good cushion.

"We'll ditch these bozo's as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Even if they tell, no one will believe them. Besides, they're probably just taking us back to their base, and it's probably fairy remote. It's impractical to launch operations like this from the heart of the city."

Glenda worked her jaw around a little. "I am thinking that perhaps you are more cunning than you let on."

"Every now and then." Moonstruck grinned. "Seriously, eat. They should feed us, but you look like you're about ready to collapse."

Joseph pulled a baggie of dried greens out of the saddle bag, opened it, and offered it to Glenda, who did a double take.

"This is all the food you have? I-I can't -"

"It's a lot greener on the other side of the mountains." Moonstruck shook her head. "I've been eating well, all things considered. Have at it."

Glenda bit her lip, stared down at the proffered bag then slowly accepted it. She set it on the floor and gingerly pulled a few leaves out, eating pensively. Joseph stepped past her and began cautiously exploring the room. He moved very carefully, as if he'd never been in a building with furniture before. Moonstruck suspected he had not.

And neither had Glenda, she realized a moment later. She frowned as it occurred to her that if they were going to pull this off, she'd need to show Glenda the ins and outs of pretty much everything; indoor plumbing, doors, drawers, being a completely inconspicuous personal assistant – the whole nine yards. Actually, she should acquaint herself with the plumbing first, in case Roanamia used something weird. Plus, she was filthy, and as princess, she got first dibs on the shower.

"I'm gonna get cleaned up." She grunted as she reluctantly stood. "They'll expect us to be clean and presentable by the time we land, so you guys'll have to bathe too."

"Um... okay." Joseph furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his head as Glenda gave her a confused look.

Right, she'd have to show Joseph as well.

"I'll give you guys a crash course in a little while." Moonstruck chuckled. She ambled over to the first of three closed doors and pushed it open to find a small bedroom. The next was a much larger bedroom, the third was the bathroom. She glanced back at the others, about to mention that they were a bedroom short, then realized that Joseph would probably have a hard time fitting in the smaller bedroom with his long tail. He'd probably be more comfortable, and a more effective bodyguard on the sofa. Shaking her head; she stepped inside, flicked the lights on and shut the door behind her with a hind hoof.

It was compact, as she'd expected, but very efficient. The plumbing was nothing exotic, and there were fresh towels on all the racks, and some heady floral scented soaps scattered around on every available surface. There was no bath, but Moonstruck suspected the potential for disaster was greater in a ship such as this with a tub that might leak or overflow. She'd have time for a long soak later, she knew. She shuffled over to the glass walled shower, slid the door open, then cautiously turned on the faucet. The water sputtered out of the shower head in rusty bursts, which compelled Moonstruck to give it a minute or two to clear out the pipes. It was highly likely this suite wasn't used often.

She closed the shower door and stepped back to the mirror to take a look at the sorry state of her mane, then stared at her reflection for a few long moments. It might just be a trick of the light in here, but it appeared as though her periwinkle mane and tail were now bone white. She opened the door to let in more light from the main room and the windows. Her mane did not change color.

"Hey, Joseph?" She called, poking her head out.

"Yeah?"

"Since when is my mane white?"

He squinted at her. "Um. Wasn't it always white?"

She gave him a flat look. "It was periwinkle.

"Er..."

"Light purple." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right right. Umm..." he shuffled awkwardly, "since after the crystal mines, then. I think."

"Why didn't you say anything!?" She barked, whirling to look at her reflection again.

"I thought you'd already noticed!" He yelped.

"Well, I didn't exactly have a mirror, and water always washes my mane out so I never pay that close attention to my reflection in water!" Moonstruck turned back to the dragon.

"Oh. Well. Now you know."

"It looks nice?" Glenda offered timidly.

"Thanks." Moonstruck sighed. "I don't hate it, I'd just like to be informed of these things."

Actually, she liked it, though she wasn't sure if it was a bad sign, or not. Magical overexertion could most certainly cause white hair, though she'd never heard of someone having their mane and tail completely bleached in one go. She closed the door again, then gave the water coming out of the shower head another inspection. It was now clear, and of an agreeable temperature. She stepped under the stream, slid the door shut, and watched the water at the bottom of the shower turn brown as all of the dust she'd accumulated since the last time she'd taken a bath ran down the drain. She hoped she didn't clog the plumbing.

Although she desperately wanted to linger for a while, as this was the first hot shower she'd had in some time, she kept it short, and chanced telekinesis to help speed up the shampooing process, and minimize the amount of awkward twisting she'd need to do to get everywhere. Her wings were especially tricky in such a small space, though they didn't exactly require soap, just some good splashing off and some grooming later. It seemed especially difficult to get them thoroughly wet; they seemed larger than she recalled. She couldn't open them fully without hitting the walls or ceiling. Yet, the shower was large enough to accommodate a good sized pegasus. Strange.

Once all the soap was rinsed out, she splashed off the thin layer of mud she'd left on the walls of the shower, then reluctantly shut the water off. She stood for a few moments with her eyes closed, listening to the water drain away through the maze of pipes beneath her hooves, the slow drip of the shower head, and the hum of the idling airship.

She startled herself awake, surprised that she'd fallen asleep. She shook her head, then shook off more vigorously to start the drying process. Once she was sure she wouldn't drip on the floor too badly, she slid the shower door open and stepped out onto the bath mat, where she cast her drying spell. The magic didn't cause much discomfort, though it seemed to take more effort to cast. Now dry, and smelling strongly of lavender, she heaved a sigh and opened the bathroom door.

"Next."

Joseph and Glenda stared wide eyed at her, then exchanged glances.

Moonstruck slumped against the door frame. "I'm serious; they'll expect us to be clean and presentable when we get to wherever we're going."

More wide eyed staring.

"Fine. Joseph, get in here. You have scales, and scales don't need as much water."

He grumbled, then reluctantly hoisted himself off the sofa. Moonstruck showed him how all of the plumbing worked, wished him luck with fitting in the shower, then shuffled out, closing the door behind her. Glenda watched her curiously as she fished a pair of brushes out of her saddlebags and began brushing down her dark gray coat. She'd groom her wings next, then eventually tackle her mane and tail.

It wasn't exactly an awkward silence, but nor was it comfortable. Moonstruck wasn't used to such scrutiny from near total strangers while she did mundane tasks. The silence was broken as she realized that more than just her mane, and possibly wings had changed.

"Huh, look at that."

She lifted a fore hoof to show Glenda, who raised an eyebrow.

"Your... hoof?"

"Yes, well, the flags." Moonstruck rotated it as much as she could to take a look at the longer fur growing around her hooves. "I was wondering if I'd end up with some feathering – I tend to take after my dads side of the family, and they're mostly draft-types."

"Draft?" Glenda scowled.

"Er... more of a stocky, powerful build. Sometimes with feathering like this." She waved her hoof. "Usually you see draft type Earth ponies, but that side of the family is mostly unicorns. Kind of unusual." She set her hoof down and brushed out the flags, then moved on to her other hoof.

"So you _are_ half unicorn." Glenda said pensively. "I did not know the offspring of a unicorn and a pegasus produced an alicorn."

"They don't, usually. My moms an alicorn." Moonstruck muttered as she carefully extracted a burr that had embedded itself deep in the flags of her right front hoof. "I'm Moonstruck, by the way."

"I am Glenda." She said hesitantly. "But you already know that."

There was a soft knock on the door. Moonstruck let the brush fall to the floor and hauled herself to her hooves. As she ambled to the ornately carved wooden door, it occurred to her that Glenda should really be answering the door. Now was one of those times that she wished Windwake was here; she hated to admit it, but his staunch professionalism and adherence to decorum would be useful right about now. Shrugging, Moonstruck magicked the door open herself as she adopted an annoyed look, looming over the small unicorn in the hallway.

"Yes?"

"Y-your m-meal, Y-your Grace." The unicorn bowed deeply and stepped aside to reveal a cart loaded down with a small feast. Moonstruck was mildly surprised they had that much to eat on board.

"I am also honored to inform Your Grace that we will be underway very shortly."

"Good." Moonstruck inclined her head slightly as she stepped aside to allow the unicorn to timidly push the cart into the suite.

"If the Admiral does not have any need of me, I would prefer not to be disturbed for the rest of the day, if at all possible."

"O-of course, Your Grace. There is an alcove up the hallway where one of your staff may leave the cart for collection." Said the unicorn, stopping the cart in the center of the room, then backing away, eyes downcast. He never even looked up at Glenda, whom was seated awkwardly on the floor near the sofa, nor Joseph whom had just stepped out of the bathroom with a towel on his head.

"There is also a button by the door, press and hold it if you need anything."

"Thank you." Moonstruck dipped her head regally, then closed the door behind the retreating unicorn. Once his hoof-steps faded down the corridor, she slumped and ambled back into the room.

"Wow, what a haul." Joseph grunted, peeking out from under the towel.

"Yeah. Think they slipped something into any of it?" Moonstruck asked, lifting a lid to see what was hiding underneath. Steamed carrots with some kinda greens and a honey glaze. She vaguely recalled a spell that checked for poison, but she was disinclined to attempt it in its semi-remembered state. Especially when a certain dragon whom was currently dripping all over the floor could do the same thing.

"Hold still."

"Eh?" Joseph gave her a funny look as he slid the towel back to rest on his shoulders. He yelped as Moonstruck cast her drying spell on him, then shook out his wings as the hot air fizzled out. "The heck was that?"

"Drying spell. Very important when you have a curly mane and tail and live in a drizzly country." Moonstruck smirked. "Anyway, can you tell if anything smells off?"

"Of course!" He snorted. He sniffed over the cart in general, then began lifting lids to take inventory of what was underneath, pausing every now and then whenever something piqued his curiosity. "Seems okay. Not any meat though."

"You can hunt later." Moonstruck rolled her eyes.

"I was more worried about her." He pointed at Glenda, who was staring at the food laden cart in shock.

"You alright with just plants for a while?" Moonstruck asked.

"I... uh... yes." Glenda shook herself.

"Good. Lets eat. I can show you the wonders of indoor plumbing after."

* * *

The rest of the day went by surprisingly quickly. Teaching Glenda about the marvels of indoor plumbing was a minor fiasco that thankfully did not result in a flood, or anything broken. Personal grooming took a bit of time, as did coming up with a comprehensive, unified story for their presence out in the mountains. They moved on to etiquette as the sun began to set. It boggled Moonstrucks mind to be teaching others how to conduct themselves around royalty, when generally she was pretty bad at it herself. She supposed not being found out and consequentially executed (or worse) was a pretty good motivator. If her sister had been here she probably would have died from shock.

They staggered off to bed once it was fully dark, too tired to continue. Moonstruck blearily showed Glenda how beds worked as Joseph stretched out on the sofa, which was actually too small for him, though he didn't seem to mind. He could always switch to the floor if being draped over the furniture was too uncomfortable. Moonstruck tossed a spare blanket at him, then shuffled into her room. She drew the curtains shut with magic, flopped on the bed, closed her eyes and fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The others were not so lucky. Although Moonstruck had shown him earlier, Joseph had a little trouble turning the lights off in the main room. He eventually figured it out, and thankfully he only broke one small portion of a pull chain that no one would notice. As the room settled into darkness, he closed his eyes and listened to all of the unfamiliar night noises that came from sleeping indoors. He'd slept in abandoned houses before, but never occupied ones. They had a different sort of nocturnal symphony, and this one was especially alien to him, seeing as how it was a great flying machine. His hearing wasn't as good as Moonstrucks, but he could hear the engines clearly, as well as the clicks and whirs of various other devices busy at whatever tasks they had been built for. Too there was the sound of ponies moving around in hallways all around, and perhaps in other rooms like this one. With the strange artificial lights, ponies could stay up well past dark, and judging by the amount of activity buzzing around them, they may well be at it for a while.

The sofa was not uncomfortable but he was limited in how he could lie on it, considering it was meant to accommodate the anatomy of a small pony, and not something with a long tail, and large wings. After a few minutes of contorting in various ways, he gave up and slid down to the floor. He wasn't sure why he'd tried the couch at all, since he typically slept on the ground anyway. He pulled the blanket down with him; it was surprisingly chilly.

Joseph heaved a sigh and closed his eyes again, letting the thrum of the engines lull him into a light doze. He suspected he would not sleep much tonight.

Glenda was in a similar state, though she was standing awkwardly in the middle of her small room. The only building she had ever been in was the castle, and it was crumbling so badly that the only stable part of the place was down in the cave room – which is where the clan resided, for the most part. She'd explored the rest of the castle in her youth, but it hadn't been anything like this wood and metal monstrosity. It was merely stone upon stone, any finery long since removed, or decayed away. It seemed to be more an extension of the mountain, than something a pony had built.

She had been trying for hours to wrap her brain around how the day had turned so bizarre so quickly. This morning she had wondered if the others would find enough food to go around so that she could eat, and perhaps live a few more days. This morning she had been reminded as she had been for every morning since the rains stopped that she was the oldest living member of the clan, and the very last of the elders to cling to life. This morning she had known with certainty that she would not live to see the moon wax full once more.

Then the strangers arrived. She hadn't even considered that the newcomers would bring about even the smallest change, and even if she had, she would not have factored herself into the new world. That was why she had sat down, and waited for the catchers to come. They would not have bothered with her; they only wanted young, strong pegasai. It was possible that they would have been merciful and put her out of her misery.

But now, here she stood, simultaneously a prisoner and a free mare with a full belly, a soft bed waiting for her, and the knowledge that her granddaughter was alive, and being cared for beyond the borders of this wretched country. She couldn't shake the possibility that Moonstruck was lying to her; playing some cruel joke, but she also felt that the alicorn was being honest. It was vexing, being of two minds about things. Glenda sighed heavily and hung her head, listening to the strange noises the airship made, and absently sniffing the floor, which had a plush covering that Moonstruck had called _carpet_. It smelled of dust, mostly, and of metal, and steam, and grease. None of it particularly strong.

She glanced behind her as the light went out in the main room. It was very dark on the airship, her room had no window, so she could not use moonlight to see. Deciding that she may as well attempt to sleep, she cautiously stepped over to the plush bed, then carefully climbed under the blankets. She'd never had a blanket before, nor a bed so soft. The closest thing she'd come to this had been when she would snooze in the warm sand by one of her favorite creeks (back when the creeks had water). Sand was softer than other things, but it still didn't give quite like this. Moonstruck had said it would be good for her joints. Glenda was skeptical, but she was willing to give it a try.

* * *

Moonstruck lifted her head as she heard a firm knock at the door to their suite. She blinked blearily and stared beyond her partially open bedroom door to the small piece of the sofa she could see, willing Joseph to get up and answer the door. It was still mostly dark in the suite with the curtains drawn, but daylight was seeping past them enough to allow her to see fairly clearly, and inform her that it was after dawn, at least. There was another knock at the door. Something just beyond the sofa twitched, followed by the grumbles of a sleepy dragon.

Moonstruck relaxed slightly as she heard the dragon drag himself to his feet, then shuffle over to the door. The door opened with a faint creak, and there was a soft, short conversation. The door shut. A few seconds later Joseph poked his head into her room.

"They say we'll be arriving soon."

"Thought so. What time is it?" Moonstruck yawned and slid out of bed.

"I dunno."

"Wow, this thing must move slow." Moonstruck muttered. It couldn't take that long to get down to wherever their base was, did it? She sidled over to a window and opened the curtains. Bright sunlight assaulted her optic nerves forcing her to squint and look away; when her eyes adjusted, she found herself fully awake, and on the verge of panic.

They weren't approaching some remote base lower down in the foothills, they were sailing swiftly over a vast, dingy metropolis wreathed in steam and smoke, and towards a great, twisted tower that loomed out of the heart of the city. Moonstruck let out a choice curse, then scrambled out into the suite.

"This is bad! This is so bad!" Joseph yelped, bounding after her.

"I know!" Moonstruck gritted her teeth and pushed Glenda's door open. The pegasus was curled up on the floor, partially under the bed. "Glenda! Gotta get moving!"

"Wha-what're we gonna do? Can you talk your way out of this? Did you mean to take them to their _supreme_ leader, when you demanded to talk to someone in charge yesterday!?"

"I don't know yet and – no! I expected to be tossed into the bureaucracy!" Moonstruck snapped. "Corrupt governments always have an absurd bureaucracy to get lost in!"

"What's going on?" Glenda asked, looking back and forth between the two as they scurried around in a panic.

"You always wanted to see Bridle-Dur, right?" Moonstruck asked as she opened all the curtains.

Glenda yelped and ran out into the main room, then she backed herself against a wall. "No... no, no, no, this is no good!"

"Joseph already sent me that memo." Moonstruck stopped in the center of the room, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth. She had to think. There had to be a way to keep them all alive, and mostly well. She felt better after a good nights sleep, so she could probably do some more advanced spells today; if push came to shove, they could just make a break for it. They probably wouldn't get very far, but it was worth a shot.

"Mooney!?"

"I'm thinkin'! I'm thinkin'!" She snapped, glaring at the panicking dragon. "You wanna trade? I be the muscle, you be the brains?"

Joseph growled irately. "I don't know anything about pony politics! You're the expert here – and you got us into this mess! Argh! I knew I shoulda just bolted after I showed you the way in!"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes. She _did_ get them into this. It was still a pretty good plan, she just hadn't anticipated being taken straight to the capitol to meet with the queen. She really should have factored that in.

"Alright, we're gonna stick to the plan." She said firmly, magicking her brush over to her to try to loosen up a few curls. "It's still a viable plan, we just have to stretch it out for a while. If I can convince Lucena that I am too dumb and/or incompetent to pose a threat, but too interesting to just have executed, we might be able to survive long enough to figure out how to escape."

Joseph let out along groan.

"If you have any better ideas, feel free to speak up." She said sweetly as she glared daggers at him.

"I don't." He grumbled.

"What about me? She must recognize where I'm from!" Glenda whimpered, crouching slightly.

Moonstruck turned to look the pegasus up and down. That strange thrill that had gone coursing through her body in the crystal mines was back, seeping its way into her bones as a wild realization reared its head.

"She doesn't know that pegasai outside Roanamia _don't_ look like you."

Glenda blinked a few times and straightened up out of her crouch.

Moonstrucks heart beat faster as she continued brushing her mane. "That's right... Lucena is as out of the loop as anypony else. She has _no idea_ what's been going on out in the rest of the world for the past thousand years."

"She's also completely off her rocker." Joseph remarked dryly.

"I can work with that." Moonstruck said vaguely. She resisted the urge to let out a manic giggle and shook her head. "Right. We need to get ready. C'mere Glenda, lemme do something with your mane and tail. Joseph, pack the saddlebags, but leave my little velvet pouch out."

Twenty minutes later, they were being led down to the loading bay, where they were met by Admiral Desmond. Moonstruck had managed to tame her curls somewhat and looked fairly presentable all things considered; and Glenda looked appropriately demure with a neatly braided tail, and a few small braids in her mane. Joseph didn't have to do much of anything, since he tended to keep himself impeccably groomed anyway. He was lucky like that.

The admiral bowed deeply as they approached. Moosntruck dipped her head respectively, and allowed him to lead her down the ramp; Joseph slightly behind and to the right of her, and Glenda a tad further behind and to the left. Moonstruck wished that she had a spare cloak so that both she, and Glenda could wear one. They'd opted to drape the travel cloak over Glenda to gloss over how emaciated she was, and giver her a hood to hide in if things got to be too much. Plus, the saddlebags hiding underneath the cloak beefed up her silhouette a tad. Moonstruck didn't want anyone suspecting that Glenda was too weak to fly at the moment.

Her mind buzzed with possibilities as they were formally introduced to the captain of the guard, whom was a tall, lean, stoic, bluish gray unicorn stallion called Falcon. They were then informed that the queen would see them immediately. Their entourage grew as a dozen guards armed with cruel looking halberds fell into step around them. Admiral Desmond remained in the lead, though he was joined by the captain of the guard.

No one spoke while they made their way up to the audience chamber, which gave Moonstruck the freedom to take inventory. The guards wore armor, so she had no idea if they had cutie marks or not – likely not. Captain Falcon seemed to have a faded, vague cutie mark not unlike Admiral Desmond, and she could not even begin to identify what it was, even though he was walking only a short distance ahead of her. The faded marks reminded her of an ink drawing that had been placed in water; the design blurred and lifting off the paper. She did not remember reading anything about Roanamian ponies having strange cutie marks.

The tower seemed lightly staffed with guards stationed every hundred yards or so, and she did not see any domestic staff running around, though it was entirely possible that they had been cleared off their route for security reasons. The carpet they walked on was downright ancient, she was surprised that it wasn't unraveling beneath their hooves. The ceilings were extremely high; a good forty or fifty feet overhead, and pointed at their peaks in flying gothic arches. This particular hallway had no windows, but a corridor they turned down did; tall windows to their left with stained glass that reminded her of the elegant galleries of Canterlot Castle, though these windows depicted no fables, nor feats of heroes. It was the same design in every window; a mottled red field upon which rested a great green eye with a slitted pupil. The red light shining across the red carpet gave the whole place a sinister, bloody glow. At the end of the hallway there were a pair of massive double doors, carved with the same eye motif, though they had not painted the doors, merely stained them very dark.

A slim, pink, unicorn mare in a black uniform stood in front of the doors, watching them approach with sharp, half lidded eyes. She had no cutie mark, as near as Moonstruck could tell. When they were a few paces away, she stepped forward to briefly speak with the stallions, threw a glance at Moonstruck, then spun and marched up to the doors. She used telekenisis to open them both wide, then stepped into the chamber beyond.

"I present Her Grace, Duchess Angelina Francesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III, of Bananalund." She announced, her voice silencing the crowd, and resonating clearly across the audience chamber. She stepped aside and bowed deeply.

Moonstruck half closed her eyes, stuck her snout in the air, and marched smoothly after the stallions, careful not to do more than glance at the crowd gathered in the audience chamber. It seemed that the royal court was in session, and the hall was filled with nobility from across Roanamia. All of them were unicorns, and only a small number of them had cutie marks. She noted that only the older ponies seemed to have them; the younger members of the court had blank flanks.

The gallery was lined with tall, narrow, red stained glass windows alternating with tapestries depicting the various family crests of the court. Above each tapestry was a blood red crystal that emitted a deep crimson light. Overhead was a skylight; thankfully it was neither stained glass, nor red; though judging by the shadow the support beams left across the floor, it was a complex spiderweb of steel and glass which had a very foreboding effect. Nopony wanted to be caught in this web.

She focused forward, to where the queen was waiting on her throne in a tall alcove of twinning roses carved from red crystal. Above the alcove was an eye with a slitted pupil carved from a truly massive emerald. Lucena herself was in a surprisingly undignified position for a queen holding court; lounging as she was on her exquisitely carved wooden throne. The reason for the strange pose became clear as they grew closer. Queen Lucena had... altered herself.

Moonstruck very nearly stumbled as she realized that the queen had somehow stolen, or perhaps adapted the body of a minotaur; she walked on two legs, not four, and had hands instead of front hooves. Her black wings were arched over her back in what had to be an uncomfortable position to hold for any length of time. She wore a gossamer dress over her blood red coat and lean frame, and her black mane and tail were streaked with gray. Her large yellow eyes were surrounded by fine lines. It was jarring to see an aged alicorn; Lucena was around Celestias age, yet Celestia still appeared to be in her prime.

"Well, well, what have we here?" The queen said, as they approached. Admiral Desmond and Captain Falcon bowed deeply and moved aside as the party came to a halt in front of the dais upon which the throne rested.

"A little lost alicorn from afar? And a mere duchess? Things must truly be strange out in the world."

"Greetings, Your Majesty, and well met." Moonstruck dipped smoothly into a low, wide winged bow, hoping Joseph and Glenda were following her lead.

"Rise. And tell me what house you belong to. I am afraid I am unfamiliar with Bananalund nor... "

"The Bananafana Fo'Fescas." Moonstruck supplied as she straightened up. "It's a relatively new house, less than three hundred years old. It's the joining of a minor branch of House Drui and House Loma."

Moonstruck was pretty sure House Drui and House Loma were dead houses, since no alicorns of those lineages lived, and the bloodlines that lived on in common ponies hadn't produced a pony of note in some time, but Lucena didn't know that.

"Mmm... agriculture lines. Of course." Lucena nodded. "How is it you are but a duchess? Are there truly enough alicorns to have superfluous relatives whom hold no queendoms of their own?"

Moonstruck sighed heavily. "Yes. I am but a cousin to the clan heir, and a second daughter at that. I have a modest holding, though I act as minister of trade for the country and clan."

"I see, I see." Lucena leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "They figured out how to get the magic to breed true, did they?"

"Yes, though I don't know it." Moonstruck huffed. "They never tell us younger alicorns anything. At least not until they've decided we're ready."

Lucena cackled and leaned back in her seat, steepling her fingers in front of her chest, and twisting so that one flank was visible in the slit of her long dress. Unlike everypony else, her cutie mark was distinct and clear; a green eye with a slitted pupil.

"Yes, they are quite secretive, aren't they?" She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me, how did you come to this country? How did you get past the shield, and over the mountains?"

"I have no idea. The last thing I knew I was in my carriage with my caravan; we were on a tour of Equestria and the Northern Lands, heading to the Eastern Nations and had just left Timberwhisp, which is on the northeast corner of Griffon territory. A freak thunderstorm caught us by surprise, and my caravan was struck by lightening – most everyone died." She gestured with one wing to Joseph and Glenda.

"Only myself, my bodyguard and my maid survived. Most of our goods were destroyed in the crash. All I can say for certain was that the storm blew us far off course. We've been wandering the mountains ever since."

"So, Equestria still stands? Is it still powerful?" Lucena lifted a manicured brow shrewdly. If the idea of a violent thunderstorm somehow allowing two ponies and a small dragon to breach her shield seemed impossible to her, she didn't show it.

"Yes, of course. It never fell." Moonstruck blinked cluelessly, unsure how she should respond to that and deciding that genuine confusion was the best course of action.

"What of Princess Luna?"

"She and her sister had a bit of a falling out a while back, and she was banished to the moon." Moonstrucks mind whirled. Her gut was telling her that Lucena would not be happy to hear that both Luna and Celestia were alive and well.

Lucena let loose a wide grin. "And Celestia?"

"She's still around, though the fight with her sister left her considerably weakened. The other houses decided to remove her from power. She simply manages the sun and moon now."

"Fascinating. And she finds this arrangement agreeable?"

"Likely not, though she doesn't have much say in the matter. If she doesn't do her job, everypony dies, and she can't stomach that, even if she hates going on as she is." Moonstruck waved a hoof flippantly as Lucena erupted into raucous laughter.

"Oh ho ho, that is far better than I had hoped would happen!" She clapped her hands together, then sat up straighter. "You have a cutie mark, but you are powerful, I assume. What of the lesser ponies?"

That was not a question Moonstruck was anticipating. It seemed that Lucena knew why so few ponies had cutie marks, but without this knowledge, Moonstruck could not think of any reason why ponies _outside_ of Roanamia wouldn't, and she didn't have time to hesitate.

"Most ponies have them."

"Hmph." Lucena rubbed her chin with one hand. "That must make things more difficult."

"Make what more difficult?"

"Keeping everyone in line, of course."

How Moonstruck wished she could just ask about the cutie marks! She sensed that she wasn't in a position to ask prying questions at the moment; only answer them. And her answers had to be interesting enough to keep the queen engaged. She shifted her weight and rolled her eyes, trying to think of the laziest, most diabolical way to oppress ponies – preferably without them knowing it.

"Not really. It just takes so much effort to keep everypony in line through force, so we let them think they're following their destinies or whatever." Moonstruck said, allowing herself to drawl a tad. "It's basically a carrot on a stick. They toil away at their little projects, make money and goods, pay taxes, but never really get anywhere. Some of them even spend thousands and thousands of bits and gems on higher and higher education in an effort to attain better employment, but mostly they just end up in massive amounts of debt that they have to work off doing menial jobs because there simply isn't that much demand for such highly educated ponies. Meanwhile, we alicorns sit back and watch our wealth grow, since we own most of the biggest corporations, and run the governments."

Lucena tilted her head back and stared at her for a disturbingly long time. Moonstruck was convinced she was about to order their execution, when the elder alicorn cracked another wide, disturbing grin.

"I like it. I prefer a more proactive approach, but I like it." Lucena chuckled. She turned her gaze to Joseph. "And what of your draconic bodyguard? Are dragons now under pony control?"

Moonstruck silently showered praises on Joseph for keeping his head bowed, eyes downcast and hands clasped in front of him – she knew this must be driving him up the wall.

"Swiftclaw? Oh, he's not a dragon, he's a draeglach – a sort of chimera. True dragons are too difficult to control, so somepony a while back figured out how to make something more manageable."

"Hmmm, fascinating." Lucena said, flicking her eyes over the silent dragon.

 _Don't try to control him, don't try to control him, don't try to control him..._ Moonstruck chanted silently to herself. She had a weird inkling that Lucena couldn't control Joseph, but either way, trying to control him would be bad. If she could, it blew Moonstruck's pet theory out of the water, and forced some massive changes to their plan; if she couldn't, she wasn't sure how the queen would react. She might simply buy Moonstrucks explanation and move on, or she might take offense – or worse.

Lucena seemed content to merely look, and turned her gaze back to Moonstruck. She smirked.

"Forgetting our manners?"

"Your Majesty?"

"It is rude for an alicorn to appear in such a -" her lip curled up into a sneer "- _bestial_ state before a higher ranking alicorn, though I can forgive your nudity, all things considered." She leaned back in her throne and crossed her legs, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair.

Moonstruck was about to explain that most of her personal effects had been either destroyed or abandoned, when she realized what the queen meant. She expected her to be able to transform into some sort of weird pony/minotaur thing. Moonstruck laughed nervously, mind racing to find an explanation.

"Oh! Of course! Forgive me, your majesty. I have been out in nature for so long, and intent on preserving my energy that I simply had not thought of it." She chuckled, and bowed. Moonstruck did not know a single transformation spell, so an illusion would have to do. She hoped that it would be enough.

She fanned her wings over her head, closed her eyes, and did her best to mimic Lucenas strange transformation, picturing herself as a similar creature. She also added a bit of smoke and sparkles for the effect. When the spell finished, she slowly stood, pushing herself up on her hind legs as she did so, just in case the illusion wasn't quite as complete as it should be. It was a good thing she'd been observing Joseph all this time, otherwise she'd have no idea what to do with hands. She hoped she could maintain this as long as she needed. Walking around on her hind legs would probably be the most difficult part, but she couldn't afford to have her physical body mismatched to the illusion at the moment, even if it was invisible. Hopefully she would have the chance to come up with something better later.

"I'm afraid my wardrobe is lost somewhere." Moonstruck said, running an illusory hand through her illusory mane to shake it out a little. "So this will have to do for the time being."

Lucena nodded once, content, it seemed. Then she lifted her gaze beyond the trio to the double doors at the end of the hall, that were in the process of swinging open.

"I do hate when he does this..." she muttered just loudly enough for Moonstruck to hear.

Moonstruck half turned to take a look at the semi-unannounced guest.

"I present Prince Maximus Dragonwing of House Rosegard." The pink pony announced from the center of the aisle just in front of the doors. She bowed, and moved aside, allowing a tall figure to stride into the room.

The prince was one of the largest ponies Moonstruck had ever seen - even for an alicorn; which he was - in a very general sense. She found herself drifting aside as he moved closer. He seemed to have a mix of both pony and dragon features. He had blood red fur, like the queen, but he also had glossy white scales over much of his back and shoulders. He had a black mane that was more leonine than equine, and a long, fleshy tail with silky looking black flags. His large black wings were like a dragons, with leathery membrane stretched between spindly fingers, and his horn twisted in a rough, almost scaly spiral. The green eye with slitted pupil motif was carried over here as well. Those eyes may well have been his eyes. He did not appear to have a cutie mark, which was surprising, though it could simply indicate that he was young, perhaps around her age. Ponies here didn't seem to get their marks until later in life – if at all.

The prince stopped before the dais, swept into a bow, then stood again on his hind legs, now in the same strange guise as Lucena, albeit taller, bulkier, and more menacing. "Mother."

"Your manners are atrocious, my son." Lucena said, inspecting one hand lazily. "We have a guest from afar. Perhaps you should greet her properly."

Maximus threw them a brief glance. "I see that. I also know that you instructed me to report to you as soon as I returned."

"I suppose you are punctual, at the very least." Lucena muttered. "Very well, what news have you? And make it quick, you're embarrassing me in front of the duchess."

He narrowed his eyes. "Lord Vertram refuses to stand down. The shield spell holds sound, and he insists that he will only negotiate with you, and you alone. He is threatening to cull half of his work force if his demands are not met."

"You flew all the way back here just to tell me that?" The queen sighed. "You could have sent a message and saved me the trouble." She turned to Moonstruck. "Don't you just hate it when unicorns let their pathetic power go to their heads?"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yes, it's such a chore putting them in their place."

"Oh, I enjoy that part, I just find it absurd that they think they can challenge me at all. And really, it's been ages since I've had a proper challenger. These lot are vexingly pathetic." Lucena cast a sour look at her son.

"Almost as vexing as when young stallions don't obey their mothers. Greet our guest, Maximus."

He let out a sigh akin to a growl, spun elegantly, then dropped into a low bow. "Prince Maximus, at your service, milady."

"Duchess Angelina Franesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III of Bananalund." Moonstruck said, bowing in return, and nearly falling over. Luckily she was able to complete the motion into a sort of curtsy.

The prince straightened up, then turned back to his mother. "Now, the matter of Lord Vertram..."

"Yes, yes, I suppose I can have a word with him." Lucena lifted herself out of her chair slowly. "He most likely is just doing this all for the attention, such a needy thing." She snapped her fingers, and a dark green unicorn mare wearing a smart black uniform stepped out from behind the throne.

"Prepare a guest suite for the Duchess and her staff." She said. "Tonight we feast in honor of our improbable visitor. Perhaps the Duchess shall demonstrate her abilities for our entertainment, since I assume it has something to do with card tricks."

Moonstruck smiled and bowed as the queen stood fully, relief sweeping over her. For the time being, they were in the clear.

"It would be my honor and pleasure, Your Majesty!"


	16. Chapter 15

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

The rooms were ready by the time they climbed the two dozen flights of stairs to reach them. Moonstruck was about at physical and magical limits as they were escorted in, and given a brief tour. As soon as the tower staff left, she cast her anti-snooping spell, determined that the room lacked any sort of listening devices that she could recognize, then dropped her illusion as she sank gratefully back onto all fours. The combination of magic, and walking in such an awkward position for so long was playing havoc with her back and head.

"Oh good gravy have I stepped in it this time!" Moonstruck groaned, dragging herself over to a truly ancient looking fainting couch and flopping on it. It smelled funny, but it at least wasn't dusty.

"Agh! That pony gave me the creeps!" Joseph said, loudly shaking out his wings. "I dunno if she was looking at me like a piece of meat or what but – gah!"

"Queen Lucena is even more terrifying in person than I imagined." Glenda said her voice sounding small and frail.

"Luckily she never even gave you a second glance. Not even sure she gave you a first glance."

"Y-yes."

"And what was with the prince? I mean... what is he supposed to be?"

"He is half dragon, as far as I know." Glenda said, sounding a bit disgusted.

"Going by nomenclature..." Moonstruck said into the couch, "I'd say he's the unholy offspring of Lucena and Magmanus."

"That is the rumor." Glenda grimaced.

"I'm pretty sure that's not possible." Joseph said firmly, wrinkling his snout.

Glenda shrugged. "It was supposed to involve some strange magic. There are many legends about it. I don't know how magic works, so I couldn't tell you which is more likely."

"It doesn't work like that." Moonstruck muttered. Magic could create some strange hybrids, but they were chimeras not... offspring. It was possible that Lucena had created the prince in her own image and claimed him as her son, but there had been something about his face, and the way he moved that seemed to indicate relation, and not a mad scientists rendition.

"Now that I think about it," Joseph said slowly, "he didn't really smell different from other ponies."

"You go around smelling strange ponies?" Glenda quipped.

"With a nose like this, I can't help it." Joseph snorted.

"Was he directly related to Lucena?" Moonstruck asked.

"Yes."

The room settled into silence, Moonstruck very much wanted a hot bath, and a long nap, but she sensed she had time for neither. For the immediate, she needed to cook up an illusion she could maintain even while her magic was doing strange things. For the long run, they needed to figure out how to get out of here without anyone noticing right away.

Heaving a sigh, Moonstruck pushed herself into a sitting position, and inspected her troops. Neither of them had experience with espionage, but they were both successful predators, so they could be quite sneaky if they needed to. Neither of them had spell magic, but she remembered many of her fathers spells that would allow her to enchant objects that they could use. They would both need invisibility cloaks, and teleportation nodes at the very least. She couldn't set up a nodestone network until or unless she got out into the city, since the spells would be relying on her memories of the destination. She nodded once to herself as priorities began to line themselves up.

"Okay, first order of business. We need to find a way out of the tower – pretty much everything we need to do to get out of here hinges on being able to come and go. Places like this usually have secret passageways, Joseph, you're in charge of finding them."

"Right. Er... wouldn't the queen know about all of the secret passages though?"

"I'm sure she knows about some of them." Moonstruck shrugged, sliding off the couch. "The tower's so big, she can't know about all of 'em. I just want you to find 'em, don't go exploring 'em yet. I haven't gotten a good read on her yet. There's no listening devices or anything in here, so either she's not expecting betrayal, or she's so arrogant that she doesn't think anyone can really challenge her."

" _Can_ you challenge her?" Glenda asked.

Moonstruck scowled; that was a good question. "At full power, yes; I can be quite the headache. At the moment, no. Which is why I'm gonna play the airhead duchess for a while. Gives both of us time to recover, and do some scheming."

Glenda pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

"I need to build a puppet that I can throw that absurd illusion over, so you're gonna help me round up stuff." She inclined her head to Glenda. "Just whatever we can find around the suite will do."

"What about the prince?" Joseph asked as he poked his head behind a large tapestry depicting an ancient battle.

Moonstruck flopped her ears to the side. "He probably knows about the passageways too, but I got even less of a read on him than I did on the queen. I'll have to play that one by ear. Really wasn't thinking there'd be another alicorn around to deal with."

The admiral _had_ mentioned the prince, but omitted the alicorn part.

"The prince is said to be immensely powerful." Glenda said, following Moonstruck as she began inspecting pieces of furniture.

"I doubt that," Moonstruck muttered as she picked up a wire waste basket and flipped it over. "This'll work for something."

"Can you detect the power of other alicorns?" Glenda asked, giving the waste basket an odd look.

"Not without casting a spell that would also inform the alicorn in question that I was checkin' their power levels." She shook her head. "He doesn't have a cutie mark. No pony without a cutie mark can tap into their full potential."

Moonstruck scratched her chin as she stared at a life sized wooden bust of an unnamed unicorn mare sitting on a shelf. She wondered if anyone would notice if that went missing periodically. Until or unless she was able to figure out a better illusion, or possibly even a doppelganger spell, she needed her puppet to disassemble.

"What is a cute mark?" Glenda asked as Moonstruck lifted the bust and placed it in the waste basket.

"Fancy magic butt symbols."

"Oh.

"They..." Moonstruck paused and scowled into space. It was one of those concepts that was so familiar that it didn't often need to be explained, which meant that when it came time to explain it, it was oddly difficult. "They're important. Basically when a pony finds their true purpose in life, they get their mark – which has something to do with that purpose. Then they spend the rest of their life doing whatever it is they do."

"I... see." Glenda scowled. "So this is something that unicorns get?"

"No, all ponies. Earth ponies, pegasus, unicorns, alicorns – even zebras have a sort of cutie mark."

Glenda took a small step back, eyes wide.

"That transformation spell was impressive, but I bet it's costly – probably why none of the higher ranking unicorns were using it, and why he didn't cast it until he was all the way up at the dais." Moonstruck smirked. "Plus, I bet delaying it drives his mother up the wall."

"Sure it wasn't just an illusion, like yours?" Joseph piped up from across the room.

"Yup." Moonstruck grunted. "I was watching for any clues to see how they do it, and that definitely wasn't an illusion." She didn't mention that she was surprised that Lucena didn't recognize that _her_ transformation was merely an illusion – or if she had, she didn't care. Of course, she might just be toying with her, intending to throw it in her face later. This was going to be difficult; Moonstruck sincerely hoped that Lucena would be up for a few rounds of poker at some point in the near future.

The next few hours were spent building a crude puppet that she was able to throw a more solid illusion over, and practicing with it, to be sure it was convincing enough for what could be a lengthy party. A small team of dressmakers interrupted them shortly after lunch, forcing Moonstruck to do a rather awkward puppet show that she was amazed convinced the tailors that they were fitting her for a dress meant for a two legged being, instead of a hodgepodge of cobbled together household items attached to the back of a four legged being. Thankfully the dress itself was a ridiculous affair with puffy sleeves, clashing colors, oodles of ruffles, and something called a "hoop skirt" that completely engulfed her natural body, which made hiding under the puppet quite a bit easier.

The whole ordeal left her with a splitting headache, and she was forced to take a willow bark tea break, and a long nap as soon as the tailors left. When she woke two hours later, she was as groggy as she was after a long night camping with her friends – which usually involved some heavy cider consumption, a lot of impractical jokes, and very little sleep.

Joseph and Glenda were chatting softly when she shuffled into the main room of their suite. The dragon had disappeared off somewhere shortly after the dressmakers had appeared, and going by their conversation, seemed to have just returned.

"Wow, you look like something the cat dragged in." Joseph grunted, frowning.

"Yeah, dealing with the tailors really took it out of me." Moonstruck grumbled, pouring herself a cup of water from a pitcher that had been left on the coffee table.

"That was worst-case-scenerio interaction there. Had to really beef up the illusion, and hide my real body, and figure out how the dress was supposed to look natural over the puppet, when that whole stupid form is the epitome of unnatural."

"It was kind of scary." Glenda nodded, eyes wide. Moonstruck had tweaked the spell so that Glenda was immune to the illusion so as not to disturb her as much. She must have gotten quite the show from wherever she'd hidden when the tailors showed up. Moonstruck couldn't really blame her for hiding.

"Where'd you get off to, Joseph?" Moonstruck asked.

"Just poking around." Joseph shrugged. "Found a couple of possible secret passageways in the suite, then went out to explore the terrace and stuff. Our terrace is semi-private, but there's patrols every half hour." He scratched his chin. "All of the guards are unicorns, and they fly little airship things. Dunno how fast they are, but from what I saw, they didn't seem as agile as me, or a pegasus."

"Hmm." Moonstruck was impressed, she hadn't expected him to think to do any reconnaissance beyond looking for secret passageways. "You didn't leave, did you?"

"A little. Hopped over to some neighboring terraces between patrols. Looks like most of the rooms around us are empty, and the Eye can't see anything this close to the building, as near as I can tell."

Moonstruck grunted and nodded. "Okay, that's probably safe enough. We haven't been cleared to come and go yet." She eyed the dragon for a moment. "Actually, you know, I think I'll see if I can get you special clearance to hunt. That should give you a good excuse to disappear for a while on a regular basis."

"Good idea." Joseph agreed. "And I can bring something back for Glenda, if she needs it."

Glenda started. "You don't need to do that."

"It's alright." Joseph bobbed his head.

Moonstruck stared down into her cup of water, which she was levitating effortlessly. It seemed like she was recovering more quickly now. A few days ago even this would have been too much after overexerting herself. She sighed, and mulled over anything else she needed to have Joseph and Glenda do. Her mind was still a bit mushy from earlier, and she was still puzzling over how to conduct herself at the party. Really, what needed to be done would have to wait until at least tomorrow – she had a lot of ponies to get a read on at the party later, and whether or not she was sufficiently amusing would determine what level of autonomy they'd all have in the immediate future. Well, provided Lucena wasn't merely toying with her. Joseph and Glenda may end up doing most of the leg work, if that was the case. And it might all be for nothing.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, pushing that thought aside. "Well, I guess that's enough for you guys for the day. You can take it easy. I've got a lot of poking around to do myself at the party."

"You sure? Some of those passageways didn't seemed to have been used in a while, I can probably investigate further." Joseph offered, frowning slightly.

"Nah." Moonstruck wrinkled her nose. "It's too dangerous right now. Even if they haven't used them in a while, they might suddenly start using them again now that someone's staying in this suite. Sometimes staff uses them as servant entrances and stuff, and it's an easy way to spy on the occupants of rooms. Gotta keep an eye on 'em for a while to see who uses 'em to come and go."

"Right, hadn't thought of that." Joseph scowled. "What do we do if the tower staff use's em?"

"Learn their schedule." Moonstruck shrugged. "If they put spies in there, we'll have to figure out a clever way to deal with 'em. Maybe set up an ongoing illusion in the room to make it seem like we're doing typical mundane stuff."

"Shouldn't we eliminate spies?" Glenda piped up.

Moonstruck was only mildly surprised the old mare had said that, considering how her clan dealt with intruders. "That would actually be counter-productive. We don't want to be spied on, but taking out the spies would just draw more attention to us. Better to feed them misinformation."

"You know an awful lot about this sort of stuff." Joseph scratched the back of his head and furrowed his brow. "I thought you said you were a card playing dragonslayer back home?"

"Eh, heh, lets just say hide and seek at my house was serious business." Moonstruck chuckled. She closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to judge if she'd recovered enough to fiddle around with a routine for later. There was, she supposed, only one way to find out. Opening her eyes again, she set her glass down on the coffee table, then retreated to her room to dig out her deck of cards.

She had a few things she did to entertain important guests (and foals, and not so important guests and, occasionally random passer-by on street corners if she was bored) back home, so she wasn't entirely unprepared to put on a little show at the party tonight. What she wasn't ready for was working the puppet into every aspect of it. It certainly ruled out any and all acrobatic choreography, though she didn't have smoke machines or lasers to do any of her more flashy routines anyhow, and she doubted she'd be able to round any up in the few hours left before the party. Locating her cards, she shuffled back into the main room, absently shuffling them.

"Think I'll run through a simple routine a few times without the puppet first, then see how I have to tweak it." She said mostly to herself as she stopped in the center of the room. She threw a glance to her left, at the sofa. "Could you move that aside, please? And the coffee table."

"Sure." Joseph grunted, stepping over, and easily sliding the furniture out of the way. He perched on the newly relocated sofa and began grooming his wings as Glenda hid behind it, peeking over the back.

Moonstruck stepped to the very center of the large area rug that covered the ancient hardwood floors, spread her wings, and floated the deck of cards in front of her. For a quick warm-up, she sent them spinning around her in an intricate, interlocking pattern, careful to keep track of each suit as it went so as to present an alternating sequence of black and red to the viewers. Then she spread the cards out and swirled them into a figure eight pattern that then spawned small vortexes near where the lines interconnected. She bit her lip, then sent them around the room, dipping and diving like a flock of small birds. That was a good idea... she split the deck in half, then brought them back together again two at a time so that the cards flapped like wings, which made the bird allusion even stronger. She spent a few minutes playing with her card flock, directing it around the room, then brought them all back down to form a simple house in front of her. Releasing her magical grip on them, she waited a few moments to see if the house would fall, then gently blew it over.

Applause and faint stamping pulled her attention back over to Joseph and Glenda; the former of which was supplying the applause, and the latter of which was stamping her front hooves on the sofa, which she was now seated upon, and not hiding behind.

Moonstruck sketched a short bow and flashed a cheesy grin. "Thank you, I'll be here all week!"

She straightened up and gathered her cards up again. "Hmm, what do you guys think of audience participation?"

"Uhhhhhhh...?"

She scowled, "I mean, have them draw a card or something? Mess around with a little slight of hoof a bit before I get into the fancy stuff?"

"I dunno how that even works." Joseph furrowed his brow.

"Oh, well then, I'll show you!" Moonstruck shuffled the cards then spread them out face down in front of Joseph. "Pick a card, any card."

The dragon scrutinized the floating cards for a moment, then carefully selected one out of the deck.

"Now, look at it long and good, but don't show it to me. Got it memorized? Good. Now put it back."

Joseph slid the card back among its fellows.

Moonstruck shuffled the deck. "This is an old trick, very simple. You just have to have the skill, yanno? A particular kind of magic."

She winked and tapped her head with one hoof. "Okay, cards are good and shuffled, lets see if we can find it again, eh?"

She set the deck on the floor, then stomped a hoof next to it while adding a little extra puff of air with magic, which sent the cards flying. She snatched a card out of the air, and held it face up. "Is this your card?"

"Y-yeah!" Joseph raised his head, and blinked a few times. "How'd you do that?"

"A magician never reveals her methods." Moonstruck grinned. She scowled as she gathered the cards again. "That feels too gimmicky. It usually goes over better with foals, anyway."

"I thought it was pretty cool." Joseph muttered, as Glenda nodded.

"You're not a snobby unicorn." Moonstruck pointed out.

"True."

She called the cards back up to float in front of her. "The black and red pattern is a keeper, and the bird thing was pretty cool, right?"

"It was all amazing!" Glenda piped.

"I liked the house of cards, too." Joseph added.

Moonstruck nodded. There was something oddly poetic about blowing the house over. Maybe it was because she was currently gathering information to blow this particular house down. She smirked, then brought her cards to the ready. "Alright, lets see what else I can throw in there."

An hour later she had a routine. An hour after that she had a decent handle on how to do the routine with the puppet strapped to her back, and her field of vision limited to a basic remote viewing spell that allowed her to see things from the puppets vantage point. She was glad that she'd gone with a puppet, and didn't try to do a doppelganger spell; remote viewing through something that is physically touching her is far easier than trying to create a solid, purely magical puppet, _and_ see through its eyes. _And_ still see through her own eyes so that she didn't bump into stuff while working the puppet invisibly nearby. She was beginning to wonder if she could track down that transformation spell – it would be simpler, at the very least.

The dressmakers returned as she was putting the final touches on the routine. Once the dress was on, she shooed them off to run through the routine one last time before she took another nap to rest up for the party. She was feeling okay, but she didn't want to run the risk of overexerting herself again, and the party wasn't until after the sun set, anyway. She also had no idea how long the party would actually go for, much less when she would be allowed to retire for the evening.

Joseph woke her when dinner for he and Glenda was delivered. It seemed her staff was not yet authorized to mingle with the tower staff, so they were treated to room service for the time being. It was likely a better meal than whatever the tower staff ate. It wasn't anything spectacular; just some crusty oat bread, bean patties, dried alfalfa, and some sort of grain that reminded her of couscous, though lacking most of the good stuff one typically found in couscous. She made a mental note to smuggle out some fruit or desert for them as she strapped the puppet to her back and fired up her various spells.

The sun was just dipping below the horizon when she stepped out of her room in all her ridiculous glory, absently fiddling with the cards in her puppet hands to remind herself how to use said hands with cards.

"Shouldn't you have been out of here a few minutes ago?" Joseph asked as he tore off a piece of bread from the main loaf. They were seated on the couch; the cart sitting in front of them, utensils ignored. Glenda was munching directly off of a plate that Joseph had likely set on the sofa for her, while the dragon was just grabbing select morsels off the cart itself.

"Nah, gonna be fashionably late." Moonstruck remembered to shake the puppets head, and not her own. Interacting with other ponies was going to be the most difficult part, she knew. She watched the two of them for a moment, and made another mental note to teach them some table manners before they were expected to take their meals with the tower staff.

Frowning, she circled the room, mildly intrigued by how everything looked through the puppets eyes. Most basic remote viewing spells had a sort of tunnel vision effect, and this one was no different, it was just that she was taller than she'd ever been. Or at least, she knew what everything looked like from such a height. It was rather disorienting, all and all; especially since she could still see with her own eyes; the spell just gave her a sort of picture-in-picture view of the world from the puppets vantage point.

"How am I moving? Does it look smooth? Natural? As natural as it can be?" She blurted a few circuits later, turning the puppets head to look at them.

"As natural as it can be, I guess." Joseph wrinkled his snout.

"You seem to be moving better than before. Earlier it was kind of jerky and weird." Glenda added.

"Good." Moonstruck grunted.

She glanced outside, decided that it was dark enough, then straightened the dress and tucked her cards away in their pouch which was now around the puppets neck. "I'm gonna head out then. See you guys later. I'll teleport back if I screw up, and we have to make a break for it."

"Right. Don't screw up." Joseph grumbled.

Glenda nudged him reproachfully, then half turned to look at her. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Moonstruck chuckled and headed to the door, only one set of hooves making a clip clop noise on the floor. She was wearing the shoes that went with the dress on her front hooves, and had tied towels around her hind hooves to muffle them. It was a little slippery, but it'd have to do. She was stretched thin enough as it was, she didn't think it'd be wise to add a silencing spell on top of every other spell she was currently juggling – including a stealth magic spell to hide the glow of all of the telekinetic puppeteering she was doing. She was amazed that six week course she took on puppetry a while back was proving itself so useful.

She stepped into the hall, closed the door behind her, and headed for the stairs, though she barely made it a dozen paces before somepony was shouting at her.

"Y-your Grace!" A small orange and purple unicorn stallion wearing the tower livery panted, galloping up to her. He slid to a stop a respectful distance away, and bowed deeply, chest heaving.

"I- forgive me, I was instructed to escort you to the party and I -"

"It's quite alright, I know the way." Moonstruck said, unsure how snooty she should be with the staff. It was probably safe enough to be polite and professional to them when no one else was around, but an arrogant brat when in the company of of important ponies. She doubted they'd mention that she wasn't horrible to them when no one was looking.

"Er... that's not – I-I mean you can go that way, but it's much faster to take the lift." He stammered, standing up and hastily straightening his uniform.

"Ah, of course." She inclined the puppet head towards him, and let him lead her in the opposite direction. It made sense that a tower this size had elevators, though she had no idea why they hadn't just taken it earlier.

He led her back past her own door and down a dimly lit hallway that went towards the interior of the tower. The elevator was at the end, judging by the glowing signage, and there were doors lining the hall on either side. Moonstruck wondered if they were more guest suites, or offices, or store rooms. Likely not store rooms, or servants quarters; the woodwork around the elevator was too ornate. Store rooms would be near a freight elevator, and those were generally utilitarian; a staff-only lift would not be elaborately adorned either.

The doors opened as they approached, revealing a middle aged unicorn mare who stood at attention with military precision.

"Your grace," She sketched a short bow. Moonstruck made the puppet nod curtly.

"The great hall." Said the stallion escorting her. He stood aside to let Moonstruck enter the car first, then stepped on once she was situated awkwardly in the cramped space. At least, she was awkward from her place under the silly dress – the puppet was riding tall and proud on her back.

The elevator attendant used her magic to pull the lever to shut the doors, then she pressed a button on the console with her hoof. Moonstruck pricked her actual ears up a little as she gave the mare a closer inspection. The elevator lurched downwards. Generally one had to cast a specific spell to judge another magic user's power level, but the mare's professional facade seemed to crack slightly as she preformed the spell. Was even that trivial of a spell a strain for her? Or was she simply tired from doing it all day? Despite being older than Moonstruck, the mare did not have a cutie mark peeking out from under her uniform. There was also no way to discern how long she'd been on the job today – well, aside from asking, which she knew better than to do.

Moonstruck frowned as the elevator slowed, gave a concerning shimmy, then continued on its way. She would have to be extra cautious around the tower staff – she was very chummy with the castle staff back home, and it'd be easy to slip up and fall into her usual pattern.

The elevator ground to a stop, and the mare pushed the lever to open the doors. Her escort marched out, stopped a few paces beyond the doors, and bowed. Moonstruck strode out into the hallway, and fell into step behind and to the right of the stallion, whom had started off again at a stately walk. They emerged from a narrow passageway to a more spacious hall that Moonstruck had been through earlier on their way in to the tower. They turned down the same gallery of red windows, and approached the massive double doors, which were presently propped open, and guarded on either side by unicorns in flashy but highly impractical ceremonial armor. Her escort left her at the doorway, bowing deeply yet again, then trotting away as she stepped into the great hall.

Activity did not cease in the immediate area, but it did slow down a little as she made her way in to the room, the crowd parting around her. She ignored them, looking instead at the strange decor. Many couches, lounge chairs and small tables had been moved into the room; all draped in black velvet. More black velvet had been hung from the ceiling to break the massive room into smaller sections, though there did not appear to be any rhyme or reason to the arrangement, aside from the obvious VIP area near the throne. Great censors with pinholes drilled into them to let minute points of light through were hung from the ceiling, and likely held glowing crystals. Flares of what was likely magical fire were lined up outside the windows to cast a sickly, writhing red light across the macabre scene. The entire effect was eerie, to say the least; a stark contrast to the music, which was ancient, but otherwise fairly standard chamber music for shindigs such as this.

The entire chamber was full of unicorns. It seemed the entire tower staff was comprised of unicorns as well – she hadn't seen an earth pony, nor a pegasus pony among their ranks, though admittedly she hadn't seen much of the staff at all, since they'd been here less than a day. From what Sarah had said, pegasus ponies mostly pulled flying carriages, and earth ponies seemed to do most of the grunt work.

There didn't seem to be much of a spread, but waiters wove their way through the crowd carrying trays of horderves and some sort of libations – presumably fine cider, or perhaps wine, or champagne. Moonstruck sampled a few goodies as she leisurely wandered towards the VIP area; popping the small morsels into the puppets mouth area for show, while stealthily teleporting them down to her actual mouth.

The food wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near what she expected. Plain, would be a good word for it. Nothing flashy or glamorous about it, really. She wondered if the food in the VIP area was better. It was possible Lucena saved the good stuff for her inner circle, and let the bulk of the court munch on basic oatcakes, lentil patties, rhubarb tarts, and other pedestrian goodies. She enjoyed those goodies, but found it a little weird that a party of this importance would use those old standards.

Generally the host went all out for these sorts of things – her mother certainly had, and she was never particularly big on parties. Her father, Starshine and herself, generally did the bulk of the party planning along with the heads of the castle staff (who were doing the bulk of the work – though Moonstruck made it a point to personally sample any and all foodstuffs before it got the green light) – at least until Mighty Oak died a few years ago. Then it was split evenly between Starshine and Moonstruck, and the staff, with Acorn helping out here and there.

She decided not to try the beverages as she continued leisurely towards the VIP area, her mind drifting back to the last big dinner they had with the ambassadors from Llamauania. That was the last party Astromida had attended. She'd only really made a brief formal appearance, leaving Starshine and Dandilion Dream – their minister of trade – to do the bulk of the informal political jockeying. Moonstruck generally provided the entertainment, and a goofy, disarming counterpart to her sister's cool professionalism. She'd won a few juicy trade agreements that way. Some ponies did more business at parties than they did during official talks and meetings. The ambassadors from Neighpon were like that; very formal during meetings, and high profile shindigs, but absolute party animals during the after party. She was almost certain the bulk of their trade with Neighpon was because she knew where all of the best karaoke bars, and cider houses in Trot City could be found.

She swept her tunneled gaze around the room, and swiveled her actual ears, trying to gauge what sort of off-the-record negotiations were going down among these party-goers. Roanamia couldn't do anything with any outside nations, but different regions produced different goods, which means there'd be some bartering going on between various regional leaders. At the very least there'd be idle gossip, and political maneuvering on a smaller scale as the various families and organizations jockeyed for better positions within the queens favor.

It seemed to be mostly idle gossip, with a distinct drop off in conversation as she moved past various knots of ponies. They also cast furtive glances at her, but went to some effort to avoid her – or rather – the puppets gaze. This went against pretty much every formal or informal function she had ever attended. Moonstruck was used to being ignored around Trot City, as she spent a good portion of her time goofing around town and was therefore uninteresting to the locals, but this was different. These were high ranking ponies who were generally compelled to at least greet her politely, if not attempt to talk her ear off about some pet project or cause. She wondered for a moment if her illusion wasn't working, and they were simply all too terrified to point it out, but a few glimpses of her herself in various reflective surfaces scattered around the room indicated it was still running smoothly.

Nopony spoke a word to her until she was to the VIP area, and even then the guard attending the velvet rope only gave a formal greeting before allowing her inside. This was shaping up to be the weirdest party she'd ever been to – which was saying something because Patch and her bridwatching friends threw some _seriously_ weird parties. She still couldn't look at certain shorebirds without flinching.

"Duchess Angelina Francesca Banana Fanna Fo'Fesca III, I presume?" Asked a tall, lean, frosty white unicorn mare with a mane and tail streaked with icy blue. Unlike nearly every other pony Moonstruck had encountered in Roanamia, this mare had a cutie mark. It was a bit fuzzy around the edges, but it was still recognizable; a snowflake resting in a circle of silver roses. She wore a snow white dress with gauzy, transparent panels on her flanks to display said cutie mark. She stepped over, easily levitating a goblet of a curious smelling clear liquid.

"Indeed I am." Moonstruck bowed politely and lifted a glass of the same liquid off a tray as a waiter wandered past.

"I am Duchess Eira Frostgard of Maredor." Said the white mare. She dipped her head regally.

"Well met." Moonstruck dipped the puppets head as well. "I am afraid I am unfamiliar with the families of Roanamia, are you cousin to the queen?"

"I am. Rosegard is the main branch of the family, Frostgard is an offshoot. We tend to be ice wielders, and so we rule the territory north of the planes of Roanham." She sniffed her drink, then inclined her head to the other occupants of the VIP area.

"Between you and me; the queen, the prince, you and I are the only true important ponies here. They're regional barons, but posses no alicorn blood in their family lines."

"A shame." Moonstruck sighed, sniffing her drink as she teleported it down to her actual mouth and replaced the goblet the puppet held with an illusion. She inspected the occupants of the VIP area. There were perhaps a dozen ponies here, most older, and bearing distorted cutie marks, going by the stallions, who wore no expansive gowns. They mostly chatted among themselves and cast a few curious glances in her direction, but like the bulk of the party goers, did not seem inclined to come bother her just yet. A maroon mare with a gray mane, wearing dark robes sat off to the side, brooding at a small table by herself. She did not look over, but Moonstruck suspected that she was paying attention all the same. An empty goblet rested in front of her.

"That is Kyrenai. You'll be wise to keep an eye on her." The duchess said cooly, following the puppet's gaze. "She's the leader of the queens private magic corps. You may gain the queens favor, but no one gains hers."

"Noted." Moonstruck murmured, then took a sip of her drink. The drink did not taste the way it smelled. In fact, it's flavor reminded her very much of the way paint thinner smelled. She couldn't fight back a cough.

"Pardon me, what _is_ this?" She croaked as she replaced the actual goblet in the puppets hand.

"Potato spirits." Eira wrinkled her nose at the goblet. "The queen enjoys it immensely. Personally I prefer grape wine, but that has been hard to come by lately, even for us."

"Distilled... potatoes?" Moonstruck wrinkled her nose as well.

"Do they not have those in the outside world?" Eira quirked a brow.

"Potatoes, yes. We don't distill them, though this is very similar to a liquid we use to thin paint."

The duchess chuckled. "Desperate times."

Moonstruck could well imagine. With the drought so bad in the mountains, crops had to be failing left and right down here. Grapes took a lot of water, last she recalled.

"Well met, your highness." The duchess said, sweeping into a low bow.

Moonstruck whipped around and set her eyes on the nightmare visage of the prince in formal robes. She repeated the formal greeting and bowed as well, the puppet tilting forward as she bent her front knees. This contraption was a bit awkward, but certain motions were fairly natural.

"Well met your grace...es." The prince grumbled, bowing as well. "Mother will be down shortly."

"Excellent." Eira took another sip of her drink. "I heard that Lord Vertram was stirring up trouble again. Was she able to smooth everything over?"

"Yes, negotiations went well." The prince said in near monotone. "After she forced the shield down and took out most of his personal forces, he was far more willing to cooperate."

"I would assume so!" The duchess chuckled. "Duchess Angelina was just telling me that they do not distill potatoes in the outside world."

"A shame." The prince said wryly as he nevertheless scooped a goblet off a passing tray and downed half its contents in one gulp. Moonstruck wondered if he could breathe fire – she suspected a fire breathing creature wouldn't be too bothered by that.

"What do you drink out there, then?"

"Cider, ginger beer, grape wines. Kirsch, is rather nice. It's made from cherries." Moonstruck swirled her potato spirits in her glass, and thought fondly of the bottle of kirsch that the delegates from Germaney brought a few years back. It was fine to drink, though she preferred it in cakes.

"Apple cider, I'd assume?" Eira asked.

"And pear."

"How droll." Eira smirked. She finished off her drink and placed the empty goblet on a passing tray. "What do you suppose Kyrenai is brooding over this evening, Maximus?"

"Likely the arrival of Duchess Fo'Fesca." The prince sighed. "It shouldn't be possible."

"So I have been told, many times." Moonstruck rolled the puppets eyes, as well as her own.

"Few understand the shield spell. She's more likely wondering how such a powerful individual could wander into the country unnoticed." Eira noted, taking a proffered horderve. "Keeping an eye on the extreme borders is supposed to be one of her responsibilities."

"No one's been able to maintain the old borders for some time." The prince shook his head. "Between the drought and the distortion, it's a lost cause."

Moonstruck silently grabbed an horderve as well and munched while she listened. This one was considerably better than what was out in the main party – a dried fruit tartlet with some sort of cheese, and honey.

"Really? I hadn't realized it was that bad." Eira frowned. "Though I haven't been to Bridle-Dur in some time. I had assumed you were still gathering pegasus out there."

"Presumably your shield-side borders should be suffering the same fate." The prince pointed out. "And I haven't overseen slave acquisition for several years, so I could not speak to that. You would have to ask Admiral Desmond."

Eira wrinkled her nose. "The shield falls on the glaciers – even without it there it's so desolate no lone pony could make it by herself – even an alicorn." She sniffed. "And if somehow someone did, they wouldn't be attending a party right now. They'd be at a base near the glaciers being interrogated."

Ah, there was the bureaucracy; one simply had to approach Roanamia from the north to find it. Moonstruck resisted the urge to point out that spies could slip in more easily that way, but remained silent. She couldn't go around being ironic until she knew what sort of mental opposition she was facing.

"I can't say I mind the party, all things considered." Moonstruck said instead. "It's been months since I've had a proper bath, a good nights rest, and a decent meal. My servants are loyal, but not good conversation partners."

Eira chuckled, the prince nodded silently.

A hush settled over the partygoers, prompting the three of them to turn around and stare down the length of the great hall to the massive double doors. The pink unicorn from earlier stepped out into the middle of the red carpet.

"I present her Royal Majesty, Queen Lucena of House Rosegard." The mares voice rang loud and clear across the hall. She bowed deeply and stepped aside, head still low.

The hall rippled as the queen stepped into view, the ponies closest to her bowing so low their noses touched the floors, and those beyond them followed suit. Moonstruck sank into a kneel with the rest of the guests in the VIP area as the queen strode forward. She wore another gauzy dress, this one with a long train. Her salt and pepper mane was tied up in an elaborate bun, and she wore a delicate crown of twinning roses made from various gemstones. Moonstruck would be absolutely paranoid about wearing such a delicate headpiece in public. Or at all.

Nopony moved until she was standing before the throne. She turned around, swept her yellow eyes around the room, then lifted her hand. "Let the feast commence!"

Cheers erupted from the gathered dignitaries, then music and conversation sprang up once more as waiters began bringing in long tables and various trays of food. The queen sat on her throne, and nodded to those in the VIP area.

"Ah, Eira, you made it. I was afraid it was too short notice even for you."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world, dear cousin." Eira chuckled, strolling over to the throne. "It is not every day we have such an esteemed guest. What is it you do again, Angelina? Can I call you Angelina?"

"Yes, that's fine. And, I am minister of trade for Bananalund." Moonstruck said smoothly, not surprised that the duchess had been given the lowdown on her already.

"It must truly be strange out there, to have such a low ranking alicorn." Eira mused.

"It seems strange to me that alicorns do not occupy most important positions." Moonstruck countered.

"Touche'." Eira inclined her head towards her.

"The alicorns in charge must be immensely powerful." The prince said cautiously.

"Akin to gods." Moonstruck chanced taking another sip of the vile liquid. It wasn't any better on second tasting. She hoped they had water with dinner.

"As it should be." The queen grinned, leaning back on her throne and pulling a grape out of a bowl that had been set on a small table next to her just moments before she reached into it. She popped it into her mouth. "I was just reminding Maximus earlier that power is our birthright, and we are meant to wield it however we choose. He has difficulty doing so when it comes to dealing with the barons, I'm afraid. I should not have to interfere with such trivial matters."

"I was attempting to preserve as many of his resources as I could." Maximus sighed. "It's no good to the queendom if we carry out his threats for him."

"Bah," Lucena waved a hand dismissively. "Making an example of him will serve us better in the long run. Besides, he was only bluffing. As soon as I incinerated his militia he backed down."

"Well played, cousin." Eira nodded. "Though I daresay the prince has a point. Vertrams holdings are no good to anyone if they're destroyed."

"I suppose." Lucena sighed dramatically. "Though he doesn't produce much out there anymore. Been having bad luck with the slaves. They seem to be loosing the will to work. He's likely pampering them too much. If he acts up again, I may just kill him and be done with it. Though it really should be you enforcing my will, Maximus."

Lucena lazily inspected the spread that was being set up on scattered tables around the VIP area. Then her eyes fell on the brooding mare in the corner.

"Oh, Kyrenai, come over here, no need to cloister yourself away like that!"

The maroon mare flinched, looked over, scowled at the four of them, then got to her hooves, her scowl only darkening as she approached. There was a second empty goblet resting next to the first on the table she'd previously been occupying.

"There now. Duchess Fo'Fesca, this is the Wizard Kyrenai, head of my personal magical forces."

"Well met." Moonstruck nodded.

"Well met." Kyrenai grunted, eyeing her darkly.

The mare stared up at the puppets face, but Moonstruck wondered if she knew this whole silly contraption was a sham. A high ranking wizard should certainly be able to spot an illusion when she saw one. So should an alicorn for that matter.

The longer Moonstruck was getting away with this, the more she wondered. Did they know, and simply didn't say anything? Or were they all completely fooled? And if they were fooled, how in blazes could such powerful sorcerers be fooled by such a simple illusion? Or, series of simple illusions, rather.

"After dinner, Duchess Fo'Fesca will entertain us with card tricks. Won't that be quaint?" The queen chuckled.

"Quaint." Kyrenai repeated softly. "Yes, it will be quite quaint."

"Card tricks, oh my." Eira chuckled. "I haven't seen anyone do card tricks since I was a foal."

Moonstruck made the puppet smile, not sure how to respond. Thankfully she didn't have to, as dinner was brought out, and the conversation shifted again, and the barons who had been carefully avoiding them seemed to sense that it was safe to come over and chat. Moonstruck made idle conversation with a few of them as she munched, and kept an ear on the conversation between Eira, Maxamus and Lucena. Kyrenai retreated back to her table to brood. She took no food with her, but acquired another goblet of potato spirits from somewhere.

As far as power plays were concerned, the only clear player was Eira, though what she was gunning for was unclear at the time. She seemed on very good terms with the queen, but also seemed to be trying to win the prince over in some manner. It wasn't until Lucena got drawn into a conversation with a pair of older baronesses that Moonstruck realized what was going on.

"How have you been lately, dear?" Said Eira, gently nudging the princes hand. They were all lounged around one of the larger tables, so the height difference between the bipedal alicorns, and the un-transformed ponies wasn't so great.

"Nothing to report." The prince said, not returning the gesture, but also not insulted by it, apparently.

"We've missed you up in Maredor. Icereach hasn't had a proper summer since you stopped coming around."

"I've been busy."

"I suppose you have. What with the queen grooming you to replace her." Eira sighed. She sidled a little closer to him and smiled coyly. "Perhaps I should start some trouble so that you'd have to see to me personally."

The prince finally glanced down at her; scooted away a little. "I suspect Mother would feel compelled to step in, since I am inadequate, in her eyes."

"Oh, you know she only wants the best for you." Eira frowned.

"Yes, she always wants the best." Maximus murmured, then excused himself. He stood, then strode off towards a side door in the VIP area that Moonstruck had been informed lead to the lavatories.

Eira sighed heavily and rolled her eyes towards Moonstruck, whom was making a good show of inspecting a stuffed, roasted tomato. These tomatoes were amazingly bland. She had half a mind to get Acorn in here to show these poor ponies how to properly grow their fruits and vegetables.

"Stallions," Eira huffed, "you practically have to spell it out for them! And even then..."

Moonstruck chuckled, keeping her nervous grimace off the puppets face. If she were the prince, she'd be a bit disturbed as well. Eira was probably fairly closely related to the queen. "Cousin" was just a catch all term for ponies whom were related in a complex way. Royalty was notorious for keeping things in the family, but considering how long Roanamia had been isolated, how closely the duchess and the queen resembled one another (coloration aside), inbreeding could potentially be a serious problem. Not to mention it was just plain creepy to be hit on by someone who was probably closer to being an aunt than a distant cousin.

"Angelina, perhaps you should – oh, where did that lout go?" Lucena turned around, scanning the VIP area and the crowd around it.

"Lavatory, I assume." Eira grumbled.

"He has the worst timing." The queen snarled. "Very well then, when the prince returns, you may start your little show."

"I would be honored." Moonstruck nodded the puppets head regally. "Should I do it here, or clear a space out there?"

"Oh, out there. Something as quaint as a card show can be enjoyed by all the guests." Lucena smiled. She gestured to a waiter, whispered something to him, then sent him off.

Moonstruck wondered again if they knew this was all just an illusion. Outing her in the middle of her routine would certainly be a cruel way to go about things.

The tower staff began clearing a space closer to the center of the great hall, pulling curtains back and shooing party goers out of the way. She stood up and straightened her dress, then pulled her deck of cards out of its pouch. If this was all a scheme to publicly humiliate her, she sure as heck was gonna put on an amazing show in the process. She even had a few ideas of how to incorporate being revealed as a fraud into the routine. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use them.

The queen stood as the prince returned. She shot him a reproachful look, then lifted a hand, which had the amazing ability to silence the party-goers.

"Rejoice, my subjects! For tonight our honored guest Duchess Angelina Francesca Banana Fanna Fo'Fesca III will entertain us with her little card tricks!"

Moonstruck steeled herself, and strode out of the VIP area to polite hoof beats, absently shuffling the cards in her puppet hands. Once she was at the center of the cleared space, she spun around slowly to take in the décor once more to make a few tweaks to the routine based on the various obstacles in the room. Once she was facing the queen, she bowed deeply, then straightened up.

Normally she'd give herself a bit of an introduction, but she sensed that this time staying silent would work out for the better, so she simply started into her routine. At first she did a little bit of trick shuffling, sending the cards between the puppet hands at a speed slow enough that everyone watching could follow along. As the ponies leaned in closer to see more clearly, she sped up, and sent the cards flying in more intricate patterns. Then she added a sub-routine to her stealth spell that unmasked the natural glow of her horn, but transferred it up to the puppets horn, and canceled the spell entirely on the cards as she sent them flying out around her.

The cards danced through the air seemingly at random for a few seconds, then she brought them into a neat ring around herself, flicking them back and forth to show the audience a flickering pattern of black and red. Then she sent half the cards arcing over her so quickly it likely looked like she was standing in a fluttering dome of cards, while the ring still spun around her. There was more hoof stomping, a little more enthusiastic this time.

Moonstruck grinned to herself, then swirled her puppet hands, taking each half of the cards, and pairing them together to form the birds. Lifting the puppet hands, she sent the flock fluttering around the room in a twisting mass, flying them low over ponies heads, then high up towards the ceiling, she spun and sent them as far back into the great hall as she could see clearly, directed them around the various velvet curtains, then towards the VIP area, where they swirled in a figure eight pattern for a moment before returning to her and forming up to burst apart like fireworks. She brought the cards all straight down like rain, but then brought them together about six inches off the floor at an abrupt right angle, directing their flow to a few paces in front of her where they began forming an elaborate house. When the house was built, she carefully let it sink to the floor, then relinquished her magical hold on the cards.

The house did not budge, and many a pony held their breath in anticipation. Moonstruck knelt, held a hand to the puppets snout and mimed blowing on the house of cards as she stealthily nudged it over with magic. The house blew over and the cards scattered gently across the floor. She held her pose for a moment, then straightened up, then bowed to the queen.

The hall erupted into excited stomping, and genuine applause from the transformed alicorns. Moonstruck magicked her cards back into her pouch, then bowed again with puppet arms and wings wide. She straightened up, then strolled back to the VIP area.

"Well done!" Lucena beamed, still applauding. "I can't say I was expecting much, but that was truly impressive."

"Thank you, your majesty!" Moonstruck curtsied.

"Can't say I've seen parlor tricks taken to such an extreme before." Kyrenai, whom was now seated sullenly next to the queen, muttered.

"How is your telekenisis lately, Kyrenai dear?" Eira asked, smiling sweetly and batting her eyes at the maroon mare.

Kyrenai glared at her but did not respond.

Lucena chuckled. "Come, come, let us have dessert. The night is young!"

Moonstruck happily took her seat once more, and waited in anticipation for the waiters to bring out dessert. It had been months since she'd had any chocolate, it was starting to wear on her. Especially with all of the magic induced headaches. Chocolate totally helped with that. Especially the spicy kind.

The dessert that was set in front of her was not chocolate. It was some sort of fruit she'd never seen before, drenched in a honey glaze. The fruit was nearly tasteless and the honey was surprisingly bland. She was sorely tempted to ask if there was any chocolate, but resisted. And really, it was possible they simply didn't have any, seeing as how they didn't know what bananas are...

She kept the puppets expression neutral as her eyes grew wide and her lips curled back in a grimace. There was no chocolate. Chocolate was mostly grown in Zebronia and Crillobia, both of which are far south of here. The climate here was not favorable for cacao trees. There. Is. No. Chocolate. In. Roanamia. And she might be stuck here for a while.

Moonstruck twitched, and seriously considered teleporting back up to the others to beat a hasty retreat. She scowled and shook herself as much as she dared. She'd known going in that she'd be without chocolate for a while, this didn't really change things. Except the part where she'd assumed she'd be heading home after gathering some information. The going home part was where the delay was happening. She needed to stay focused. Letting out a small breath, she went back to munching on her bland dessert, and pondered smuggling some up to Joseph and Glenda. Really, they weren't missing much, and she'd already stashed a couple of tartlets from earlier in a saddle bag that she'd attached to the inner frame of the puppet for just such shenanigans.

"Angelina, I'd like you to accompany me on a tour of the city tomorrow." Lucena said abruptly, pulling Moonstruck out of her thoughts. She could just barely see both Kyrenai and Eira flinch out of the edges of her tunneled, secondhand vision.

"I'd be honored!" Moonstruck beamed.

"Splendid. I'll send for you mid-morning. I would love to hear how things have progressed out in the rest of the world, and I'm sure you'd like to see what technological advances we've made here."

"That would be excellent!"

"Good, good." The queen snagged a goblet of potato spirits off a passing tray, swirled it, sniffed it, then took a sip.

"Ah, I do hope I am not too forward for inquiring," Moonstruck said cautiously, "but would it be too much to ask for my draeglach to be allowed to hunt out in the hills on occasion? He can survive on a vegetarian diet, but he's a carnivore at heart."

The queen blinked a few times. "A carnivore? He doesn't eat gems? Well, he's not a dragon, so why would he?" She laughed. "I don't see why not. I assume killing and eating innocent creatures keeps his skills up too, eh?"

"Indeed it does." Moonstruck smirked.

"If only that predatory nature was passed on to my son." Lucena sighed, throwing Maximus a surprisingly tender look. "He's half dragon, but inherited none of his fathers charisma. He has the temperament of a librarian, I am afraid. It's taken me years to cultivate a fearsome image for him."

Moonstruck resisted the urge to quip about having grown up around some mighty fearsome librarians, and tutted sadly instead.

"A shame."

"Speaking of... Maximus, when was the last time you went to visit your father?" Lucena leaned over to address the prince, who was on the opposite end of their cluster of tables.

He flinched rather dramatically. "What's that, Mother?"

"How long has it been since you've gone to visit Magmanus?" Lucena said loudly and slowly, as if speaking to someone hard of hearing.

The prince grimaced. "A... while."

"Perhaps you should pay him a visit tomorrow while I show the duchess around the city. He so enjoys your visits."

Maximus's grimace sank into a scowl. "He's been deeply asleep for years, Mother."

"He can still sense your presence."

"I can come with you, if you like." Eira piped up, beaming up at the prince.

"No no, you're coming with us." Lucena chuckled. "We can have a mares day out."

"A-ah, I suppose I haven't seen the city in a while. Though I do need to get back up to Maredor soon." Eira said, a bit crestfallen.

"A mares day?" Moonstruck saw her opportunity and jumped on it. "I don't suppose either of you play cards?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Lucena grinned. "Eira can too, but she's rubbish at poker."

"I am." The white mare laughed nervously.

"Fantastic! It's been so long since I've played!" Moonstruck laughed and clapped her puppet hands together.

"Perhaps we should go sit in the top room at the... what was the name of that tea house..." Lucena looked to her left but no pony was sitting there. She scowled.

There was an awkward pause, then the queen turned back to the rest of the group.

"We'll work it out tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: ANOTHER long chapter! OH MY.

Back when I was trying to cook up titles for chapters (which I ultimately gave up on), this one was called _This Ain't A Scene, It's an Arms Race_. Not sure how many bricks would fly at my head for Mask of the Red Death (Poe) allusions paired with a Fall Out Boy title. X)


	17. Chapter 16

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

"So, how'd the party go?" Joseph asked the next morning, as Moonstruck dragged herself out of her room.

According to the clock it was half past eight, and breakfast had just been delivered going by how much food was still on the cart. The party went well past midnight, though Moonstruck had been able to duck off early with the very real excuse of still being tired from her ordeal in the mountains. She didn't mention that her head had felt like it was about to explode, and that she was maintaining her various spells through sheer force of will.

"Good, good. Amazingly good, all things considered." Moonstruck yawned, plopping down on the floor next to the cart and pouring herself a cup of tea. She took a sip then frowned down at the cup. It was an herbal tea, some sort of mint blend, and a mediocre one at that. Nothing in it contained any caffeine as near as she could tell, which she sorely needed. The frown deepened into a scowl as she realized there likely wasn't any coffee or tea here either, since coffea grew in similar conditions to cacao. This would certainly make mornings and late nights more difficult.

"Something wrong?" Glenda asked, eyeing the tea pot with trepidation.

"Just realizing I won't be able to get my caffeine fix." Moonstruck shook her head, and took another sip of tea. "The tea isn't poisoned or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

At least, she didn't think it was. Lucena didn't strike her as the type to use something so cowardly and underhoofed as poison. If she was going to assassinate you, she would do it with her own hooves. And probably enjoy the heck out of it.

"Did you two have a good night? No one came to bug you or anything?"

"Nope, it was quiet." Joseph shrugged, as he reached for a pastry. "We ate, and cleaned up, then rolled the cart back out in the hall for someone to come get."

"Good." Moonstruck grunted, and took a bite of quiche. Eggs and cheese were about the closest she got to eating meat. She pointed a hoof at Joseph. "You have tentative clearance to go hunt, on occasion. I have no idea if that involves paperwork, but the queen gave me permission last night."

"That was fast." The dragon said around a mouthful of pastry, as Glenda sat up straighter in surprise.

"How did you get her to agree so quickly?"

"I waited until she was in a good mood, then asked." Moonstruck shrugged. "Apparently the fact that you're a carnivore is adding to the whole "not actually a dragon" thing."

"Really?" Joseph scowled. "Gem-eaters eat meat too."

"Guess she doesn't know that."

"It's really that easy?" Glenda gaped at her.

"Diplomacy!" Moonstruck declared, shooting a hoof into the air. "And, not really, I just had good timing. It was actually pretty risky, but she was in a _seriously_ good mood. She could still forget, or change her mind at some point."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, mulling over their options. Moonstruck was still a little sore over the lack of coffee, tea, and chocolate. How did this country even function without the holy trinity? And how was it that most of the fruit tasted out-of-season? It was early summer, everything should taste awesome. Not to mention there were a plethora of mushrooms that were available right now – granted it was dry here, but there should be _something_. Back in Trot they'd be withers deep in morel and oyster mushrooms by now. She didn't really expect to be fed morels, but oyster mushrooms were easy to cultivate.

Finishing her slice of quiche, Moonstruck lifted a pastry off the cart and turned her mind back towards matters at hoof. She turned to Glenda.

"Do you know anything about Eira Frostgard, or the Wizard Kyrenai?"

Glenda paused mid bite, her oatcake crumbling slightly. "K-Kyrenai?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

The old mare swallowed hard. "She used to lead groups of wizards deep into the mountains. Her magic was... astounding. Possibly as great as yours."

"What'd they do out there?"

"No one knows." Glenda shook her head. "They didn't seem interested in us as long as we stayed out of their way. If they saw any of us though..." she shuddered.

"Hmm..." Moonstruck scratched her chin with a hoof. "The prince said she was in charge of monitoring the shield, but nopony has been able to do it for a while 'cause it's too unstable, and the drought makes it too difficult to maintain a base out there or something."

Glenda stared down at the couch cushions. "I think... I think they stopped coming around about fifteen years ago? The prince hasn't been seen in the mountains for at least five years, as far as I know. We haven't had much contact with other clans since the rains only started coming once or twice a winter, so I couldn't say if others saw her or not."

Moonstruck nodded. "When did the drought start?"

"There are stories passed down that tell of the mountains when they were green most of the year and there was snow on the highest peaks year round, but I never saw them." Glenda shook her head. "When I was a foal the best time to forage for plants was in the winter and spring. Summer and fall we hunted. Water was not scarce, but nor was it plentiful."

"Hmm. Any input?" Moonstruck turned to Joseph.

He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "The first time I wandered into Roanamia the snowpack was... I dunno maybe half way down to where you can see where the glaciers had carved out some stuff. That was, I dunno, a hundred years ago? Now they're practically gone on this side. They're still on the other side."

"A hundred years?" Moonstruck and Glenda gaped at him.

He shrugged. "What? I'm younger than I look, I'm only a hundred and twenty five."

Moonstruck did not know how to respond to that.

Joseph scowled at her. "Don't give me that look, you're looking at a thousand year-plus lifespan yourself."

Moonstruck blinked a few times. "You know, I forget about that a lot."

"Why did you want to know about Kyrenai?" Glenda asked, bringing the conversation back around to the pony in question.

"I met her last night. She's the leader of the queens elite magic corps. Seems pretty grumpy."

"Oh." Glenda grimaced. "We are not in good company here."

"No we are not." Moonstruck agreed, taking a sip of tea. The more she drank it, the more she suspected some of the more exotic undertones were some variety of basil. It didn't exactly mesh well with the mint.

"Who was the other pony?"

"Eira Frostgard. She's the duchess of the Maredor region which is up north. She's got her eye on the throne, I bet, though her point of entry is... eww." She shuddered.

"Do we need to worry about her?" Joseph asked.

"I don't know. From the sounds of it she came down just for the party. She's a genuine ally to the queen, but she may not be around much." Moonstruck finished her pastry. "I don't think any of the other regional barons will be much of a problem. They all have these weird, scrambled cutie marks. Eira's is mostly clear, so she's top tier threat material."

Moonstruck slumped down in her seat. "I get to go on a tour of the city with the queen and Eira later, so I'll get back to you on how much of a threat she is. And Kyrenai. Judging by a few comments, Kyrenai may not be as powerful as she once was. Or maybe she was never all that powerful to begin with."

"What about the prince?" Glenda asked.

"I'm placing him in the top tier just because he's more or less an alicorn, but without a cutie mark, he can't do much so..." She wiggled a hoof in front of herself. "He seems oddly level headed, which might prove to be a bigger threat than raw power."

There was a comfortable pause as they finished up breakfast and sipped their tea. Moonstruck rubbed one eye and grimaced at the bruise she found there. It wasn't an injury, just last nights mental and magical strain. She likely looked pretty bad. She certainly felt a bit funky. Reluctantly she hauled herself to her hooves.

"I'm gonna go take a bath. If somepony knocks on the door tell them... well, yeah I'm in the bath. That works."

"Right." Joseph saluted.

Moonstruck very much wanted to linger in the tub for a while, but she wasn't entirely sure when the queen would send for her, so she kept it short. She was fully dry and in the process of wrestling with her mane when she heard a knock on the door. A minute or so later, Joseph poked his head into her room. "You have a present."

"Eh?" She backed out of the bathroom to see a largeish box clasped in the dragons talons. Glenda was peeking over his back to get a look at it.

Moonstruck left the brush dangling in her messy curls and shuffled over, taking the box from Joseph and setting it on the bed. She deftly opened it, and held up a sedate and elegant black and white gown with matching broad brimmed hat. "Guess this is what I'm wearing on the tour."

"Fancy." Joseph grunted.

"Did they say when we're leaving?"

"Uh... she said they'd come get you at ten thirty."

Moonstruck nodded; it was a little after nine thirty now; plenty of time to do something with her mane and tail, and get the dress onto the puppet. It took a little less time than usual to brush her mane out to looser curls and waves, which she attributed to not having had a haircut in a while. It tended to be more agreeable when it was longer - probably something to do with all of the extra weight. Getting the party dress off the puppet was a bit of a trick, and getting the new dress on was even more difficult, since it was a bit more form fitting. It still had enough skirt to hide her, but the top portion was a bit more fitted, which required adjusting the puppet a tad.

Once the puppet was set, she placed it on her back, and fired up her various spells. Thankfully, no pain sprang up between her ears when she did so. It seemed she was finally recovering at a decent rate. She stepped out of her room with ten minutes to spare and adjusted her hat. She offered Joseph the saddlebag she'd brought with her last night.

"You two were asleep when I got back and I didn't wanna wake ya. I brought you something from the party."

Joseph happily dug around in the bag for the tartlets and gave them a curious sniff.

"Interesting." He handed one to Glenda. They exchanged glances, then took tentative bites. Pleasantly surprised, they dug in.

Moonstruck chuckled. "That was probably the best thing from the whole spread. Well, those and the rhubarb tartlets – those were good too. But it's hard to mess up rhubarb tartlets."

"I have no idea what those are." Joseph said after gulping down the last of his tartlet.

"You'll like 'em. I'll try to smuggle some up." Moonstruck brushed her dress down, and then held up one of the puppet arms to flex its fingers. It would take her a while to get used to moving fingers around.

"It's probably a good idea to keep an eye on the secret passageways. If they're used by the tower staff for anything, they'll probably wander through today."

"Alrighty."

"Is there anything I can do?" Glenda asked.

"Mmm, not really." Moonstruck frowned. "I can teach you how to make tea and stuff later. For now, just relax and regain your strength."

Glenda pulled her ears back, but nodded.

* * *

"I wonder if she's forgetting why we're here." Glenda grumbled as Moonstruck left the suite with her escort a few minutes later.

"I doubt that." Joseph grunted, his voice muffled by the tapestry he was sniffing around. "Why do you feel that way?"

"Whenever she speaks of teaching me things, it all involves servants work." Glenda scowled. She hopped stiffly up onto the sofa and sat down.

"Well, she did tell them you were her maid or something. If they come poking around, they'll expect you to know how to do all of that stuff." The dragon poked his head out from behind the tapestry. "It would be suspicious if she gets her own tea and things in their presence while her servant just kinda lurks in the other room."

"I suppose that makes sense." Glenda nudged at the plush fabric of the sofa with one hoof, frowning. "I do not know if I am comfortable around someone so adept at deception."

"I think I'd be about dead from stress if Mooney couldn't lie through her teeth. That's the only thing keeping all of us alive." He snorted a short laugh. "Don't worry, I've traveled with her for a while now, she's cool."

"Cool?"

"Er, alright. She's alright."

Glenda nodded vaguely. She sighed and looked around the room. She was already feeling quite a bit better, and that old familiar restlessness was starting to creep up on her. She knew a full recovery was a ways off, but she wasn't sure how long she could laze about for. Laziness was not something a mountain pegasus was particularly good at. She also wasn't sure how much time Moonstruck would have to teach her anything new. If the queen took a liking to her, she might spend more time with the other alicorns than here. Which was likely good for keeping them all alive, but not so good for planing an escape.

"Do you need any help?" She blurted after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. Somehow the ticking of the clock seemed to make time slow. Three days ago she didn't even know what a clock _was_ , much less that it ticked.

"Only if you want to sit around over here." Joseph shrugged, the motion of his wings ruffling the tapestry. "The other passageways are behind thicker doors with better seals, and I doubt either of us could smell or hear anything through 'em without crackin' em open a little."

"Oh."

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

"Do you know of anything you could teach me?"

"I dunno, like what?"

Glenda scowled and shifted around a little. "Something useful?"

"I don't really know anything about being a maid."

"There must be something else. I know nothing of this world!"

"I don't really know much either." He scowled. "I've never been in an occupied building before. Heck, I usually avoid ponies."

Glenda pulled her ears back and drooped her head. She did not know how she would face the boredom. Although the extra sleep would be good for her, she was never one for long naps, which was likely why she had survived as long as she had. One of the most common ways for old ponies to die was to sleep a little too deep in dangerous territory and become prey to hungry tigers or wolves.

A rustling noise in Josephs direction caused her to twitch her ears forward. A light thud followed by a flutter made her look up. Joseph had pulled a... book, she thought it was called, off of a nearby shelf and had begun flipping lazily through it.

"What are you doing?"

"Reading, I guess." He muttered. "I'm bored too."

"Reading..." Glenda twitched a wing. "Is that when you look at the symbols on things and know what they mean?"

"Yup." Joseph blinked a few times then lifted his head. "Oh hey! That's important! I can teach you to read!"

"Really?" Glenda sat up straighter.

"Yeah! I dunno if it's something anyone would expect of you, but it's good to know either way. "C'mere, we can probably hear someone poking around in the secret passageway from the rug."

He bolted out from behind the tapestry as Glenda slid off the couch. He muttered to himself as he trotted over to a desk and began searching through its various drawers. Locating what he was searching for, he trotted back and set a rectangular piece of something thin and white on the floor next to the slightly frayed rug, and gestured for her to come closer as he scribbled out strange marks with some sort of stick.

"I probably won't teach you to write 'cause I honestly have no idea how non-unicorn ponies do it, but you can learn to read without learning to write." He finished writing and took a step back, and pointed at the first line of symbols. "This is the alphabet."

He shifted the stick-like object to the second line. "And these are numbers. There are other alphabets, and other number systems, but this is the most common, so we'll stick with this."

Glenda scrutinized the alphabet for a moment. "How many do you know?"

"Oh, I dunno, five or six."

"Wow..."

"Eh, one of my sisters knows at least a dozen languages – and three of them are dead." Joseph shrugged.

"Dead... languages or sisters?" Glenda glanced up at him.

"Languages. The people who originally spoke them are gone now. Mostly only scholars know them from ancient texts and stuff like that."

"Oh."

"Alright, lets get started. Each of these is called a letter, and each letter represents a sound..."

* * *

Moonstruck was extremely relieved to be escorted onto an elegant airship, instead of a pegasus-drawn carriage. She wasn't sure she could stomach the whole tour watching the backs of enslaved and abused ponies and not do something extremely stupid about it. Noble, certainly, but stupid nonetheless.

The airship was in some ways more advanced than the ones they had out in Equestria, with electricity powering a sophisticated automation system that enabled a non-magic using pony to operate the vehicle with ease. In others it was downright backwards with its coal-burning steam engine that required the use of vast amounts of precious water, and emitted thick black smoke from the chimney-stacks that contributed to the oppressive layer of smog resting over the entire city, lower foothills, and goodness knows how far out onto the plains. An airship like this would normally be powered by enchanted crystals, which did not pollute, nor waste any water.

After a brief tour of the ship, Lucena led she and Eira down to an observation deck below the bridge where they had a panoramic view of the city below, and cushy seats to lounge upon. Lounging was more than a little awkward with the puppet, but Moonstruck managed. She really needed to figure out a stronger illusion so that she had more freedom of movement. Solid illusory puppets were notoriously tricky, requiring weeks of careful spell weaving – time she most certainly didn't have. She needed to be out scouting and scheming, not holed up in her room toiling away at a tedious spell.

"Such a lovely day for a tour!" Eira chirped as she arranged her tail on her cushion. "How is construction on the north tower, by the way? It looked nearly done, from what I saw on the way in."

"It's still a good year off." Lucena replied as she settled herself and pressed a button on a console to her left. "Most of the main structure is in place, but they're still running cable up to the pinnacle."

"Ah, yes. I know little of the workings of electricity." Eira wrinkled her snout. "It's not as straightforward as magic, I feel."

Moonstruck wrinkled her nose as well, but was careful not to mirror the expression on the puppets face. Magic and electricity were actually pretty similar, though magic was capable of much more with much less. Unless you count all of those years of training.

"I'm not particularly clear on it myself. All I know is that it must travel along special wires and cables to do anything." Lucena waved vaguely. "And it frees up magic to do what magic was truly meant to be doing."

"Yes, indeed. Oh, Angelina, is it still backwards out in the world? Do you still use magic to power mundane things?" Eira asked, half turning to look at her.

Moonstruck shifted in her seat, her mind racing. "Some things. Mostly high end things – luxury items. The commoners have electricity, which they pay for based on usage and an annual service fee."

"Of course, the elite can use their own powers to enchant what they need, or sell their services at a premium. The weak and poor must make due with electricity." Lucena mused, rubbing her chin. "I like it."

Moonstruck sincerely hoped she wasn't giving Lucena any ideas.

"It does seem like a good business model." Eira agreed. "So where are we headed?"

"Oh, out over the Bluffs. Some of our best architecture can be found in the homes of Bridle-Dur's elites. Then perhaps over to the Upper Glades for a light lunch. I believe Pendletons has just switched over to their summer menu"

"Oooh, I do enjoy their melon salads." Eira grinned. "You're in for a treat, Angelina."

"I'm looking forward to it." Moonstruck made the puppet beam. She was mostly wondering if the food would be as plain as last nights fare. She cast her gaze over the city below, taking note of where traffic was flowing, and what condition the various neighborhoods were in, as well as the general lay of the land. Most of the city seemed to be relatively flat, but there were low hills here and there and areas that might even have been seasonal lakes at some point, judging by the way the river wound through town.

"What river is that?" She asked, leaning forward a tad to get a better view.

"That is the Amin river. It's the sister river to the Roan river, which you may know, as it flows south into Equestria." Lucena gestured to the thin ribbon of steel gray down below. "Both rivers have their headwaters on the Dragon Mount where my beloved Magmanus is slumbering; one on the west side of the mountain, and one on the east. The Roan flows south, and the Amin flows north."

"Fascinating."

"It's even lower than I had expected." Eira commented, frowning slightly, throwing a cautious glance at Lucena. "Are you sure you ordered enough water?"

"Quite. I'll be clearing out a few of the slums later in the summer to bolster labor forces elsewhere."

"Ah, good, good." Eira nodded.

Moonstruck scowled and scrutinized the landscape below more carefully. Many of the low lying areas were heavily built, and in very poor condition. They seemed to encompass most of the city north of the tower. Neighborhoods on high ground were in better shape, with the highest ground holding the most pristine buildings. They were literal bourgeois islands in a sea of poverty. And this was just the north-west part of town; she hadn't really seen the east, or south side of town. She suspected they'd be about the same. The city also seemed to be an especially confusing tangle of streets and dry canals. Likely the oldest neighborhoods were built like spokes on a wheel, with the tower as a central hub, but newer construction was more of a grid. Some rather large avenues were cut off by buildings.

Although she dared not inspect the impoverished parts of the city closely and possibly draw Lucenas attention, from what she'd seen it appeared as though the buildings blocking off roads looked to be much newer than the surrounding architecture. It was as if someone had deliberately taken a fairly easy to navigate city and turned it into a brutal maze. Or perhaps a death trap.

But why? Moonstruck couldn't think of a good reason for it, aside from generally making it difficult to navigate. Some ancient cities built during less peaceful times had confusing layouts to make them harder to invade from the ground, but she saw no evidence of this in the older structures, and she had an inkling that the newer buildings had been built within the thousand year span that Roanamia has been cut off from the world – not before, when they would have been at war.

"Ah, I think we'll drop in on Lord Jamisen first." The queen said suddenly, gesturing to a grand house atop a ridge they were fast approaching. It was but one of many spacious compounds perched at the crest of a steeply rising chain of hills; glistening white buildings of stone, with vast, vibrant lawns and impeccable landscaping.

"Ah, the Stonequill family holdings." Eira mused. "Jamisen is the caretaker now?"

"Yes, Lady Bernice retired a few years back and returned to Lone Mountain."

"That would explain why I didn't see her at the party."

"Yes, I forget sometimes too. But I also forget how old so many of the barons are. And Jamison is no colt himself." The queen chuckled.

"I'd assume everyone seems young to you." Eira grinned.

Lucena tutted reproachfully, but grinned as well, though it was somewhat more sinister than Eiras.

"Not that you've ever minded keeping younger stallions around." Eira chided, still grinning.

"Well, I never!" The queen chuckled, "such cheek! Are you hearing this, Angelina?"

"I am!" Moonstruck lifted a puppet hand to rest against the puppets forehead in mock scandalization.

The queen and duchess carried on like that as the airship came to a landing on the lawn that Lucena had indicated earlier. Moonstruck noted, as they walked down the ramp, that the baron was scrambling to set up some sort of proper welcome; a train of servants following him at a measured canter, as what appeared to be guards began shooing away a landscaping crew that had been mowing the lawn. It seemed no one had called ahead.

The baron was one of the stallions she'd seen last night at the party. He had a brown coat with a graying mane and tail, and a scrambled cutie mark. Rather forgettable, all and all.

"Y-your Majesty!" Lord Jamisen panted as he came within earshot. He slid to a stop a very respectful distance away and dropped into an especially low bow. "Y-you honor us with your presence!"

The train of servants caught up to him, and dropped into even lower bows behind him like a chain of dominoes.

"It's such a splendid day, I thought Duchess Angelina would like a tour of your lovely home." Lucena gestured to Moonstruck.

"O-of course! You and your kin are always welcome here! P-please, right this way!" He stood shakily then spun, nodding to the servants to precede them. They snapped to attention and marched smartly back towards the house two by two.

The queen fell into step beside Lord Jamisen; Moonstruck a pace behind and to the left, and Eira on her right. Moonstruck kept the puppets head high, and illusory eyes forward, but tweaked the scrying spell to allow her to look around without the fake eyes moving. The lawn looked lush from the air, but there were actually a number of distressed patches where the sprinkler system likely didn't quite reach. While the lawn mowers had been shooed away, there were still landscapers trimming the hedges at the edge of the greensward. Unicorns wielded clippers while sullen earth ponies stood by, hitched to small wagons.

She kept an ear on the conversation, and cautiously focused on the nearest earth pony. He wasn't in the best shape, but not the worst either. Seemed decently fed, though still underweight, going by his overall build. Like the mountain pegasus, all of the earth ponies coats were earth tones. Not a pink, nor a green, or a periwinkle to be seen. She wasn't sure why the coat colors stuck out to her, but she logged it away for future investigation. At the moment, she needed to pretend to be interested in the barons historic home. She returned her scrying spell to its previous state and focused forward.

"... was built during the Thornbriar Dynasty during the rule of Rorric the III. Rorric has long been considered the last Great King of Roanamia. He saw us through the first Dragon War, but was struck down at the start of the Second Dragon War and was succeed by his son Rodrick, whom was a lesser king at best, and the last alicorn born of his line. Upon his death partway through the Second Dragon War, House Rosegard rose to power, and has led our beloved country to glory ever since."

Moonstruck scowled with her actual face, while nodding the puppets head slightly. She was shaky at best when it came to ancient history, but she was fairly certain the bulk of the Dragon Wars happened over ten thousand years ago. Even with her limited knowledge of architecture, it was obvious this house was built some time in the last four thousand years. What remained of Dragon War era buildings seemed to indicate that ponies strongly favored low bunkers; not sprawling haciendas like this. Unless he was talking about the third Dragon War, which was considerably more recent.

She glanced at Lucena, recalling the elder mares cutie mark, special ability and apparent love affair with the last living titan class dragon. If she was estimating her age correctly, Lucena would have been born towards the very end of the third and final Dragon War, which effectively ended the conflict between ponies and dragons – at least on a large scale. Ponies and dragons have always clashed, and will always clash. Outright war, however, is rare in the grand scheme of things. It was entirely possible that, had the war continued, Lucenas ability would have proven exceedingly useful, but seeing as how the war ended before she discovered her true powers, she was rendered somewhat obsolete before she was ever taken out of the box.

They transitioned from lawn to cobbles, and sun to shade as they climbed a few steps up to what the Baron informed them was the back patio. The front patio, he assured, was far more grand. He led them down the north wing, pointing out antique furniture from one era, paintings from another, the marble flooring, ornate rugs, and high arched ceilings. Servants occasionally scuttled out of view as they meandered; Lucena frequently cut in with some anecdote or another, and Moonstruck mostly just watched in silent horror.

When Moonstruck was a foal, she'd gone over to a friends house for a slumber party. Said friend had been a very, very, very big fan of the Wonderbolts, and had plastered their room with every piece of merchandise they could get their hooves on. Newspaper clippings, wrappers from promotional editions of things, posters, the packaging that merchandise came in - everything. It had been rather disturbing.

Baron Jamisons historic home reminded her very much of that foals room. Except, instead of Wonderbolt merchandise haphazardly taped or pinned to the walls of a small bedroom of a small filly; it was House Rosegard, and especially Queen Lucena portraiture and historical paintings, with rose-motif furniture and do-dads, rugs and tapestries tastefully arranged throughout a very large house. Was this a frightening form of patriotism, or was this particular baron just a hardcore fancolt?

"This one is a new addition – I just bought it at auction a month ago – it's a depiction of our Queen Lucenas coronation by Windstroke – the foremost illustrator at the time!" The Baron gushed, beaming brightly as he led them up to a massive picture displayed prominently in the foyer. Moonstruck had to admit, it was an impressive painting. Everything was exquisitely and impressively rendered – which was a stark contrast to the usual stylisation that ponies had used for countless eons, and vastly removed from the traditional Roanamian style, which seemed to favor blocky shapes. The lack of stylisation made it painfully obvious the panting had been edited, however. And by somepony who was not as deft a painter as the original artist. Lucena herself had been altered in the image, and it looked like a few ponies in the crowd had either been erased, or changed into someone else.

"The style is so different!" Moonstruck said, feeling this was one of the few things she could safely comment on. "Even outside the shield we still use the traditional styles to depict important events."

"Yes, Windstroke fully embraced the realistic movement, though it did not last long after her death." Jamison nodded enthusiastically. Moonstruck decided that the stallion was a genuine fancolt, though he seemed more enthusiastic about the art, and not the subject so much.

"Tell me, your grace, do they still work in stained glass out in the world?"

"Yes! It's one of our most beloved traditions!" Moonstruck made the puppet nod.

"Splendid! I so enjoy visiting the tower and viewing all the amazing stained glass windows there! And the Old Temple over on Ignia Hill has some lovely windows as well." He beamed.

"I've always preferred the windows in the Round." Lucena said offhandedly, scowling at the painting.

"Ye-yes, of course, t-those are so exquisite I had assumed she'd known – but, ah! Ha ha, she's new to the country so, of course she hasn't! Yes, the windows of the Round are required viewing!" The baron laughed, sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"Where did you find this painting?" Lucena muttered, still scowling.

Moonstruck just saw Eira wince out of the corner of her scrying spell. The baron shrank back, lowering his head and pulling his ears back. "At auction. Er... Bartlbys. He said they found it in a store room of the late Lady Ephemera estate in Quince."

The queen started, and turned to look down at the cowering stallion. "Lady Ephemera died?"

"Yes, just this past winter. Pneumonia, I believe." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Her daughters sold most of her holdings in Quince – seems they largely do business out of Maneas Tirith nowadays and didn't want to maintain the Quince house any longer."

"I.. it seems I spoke with her not long ago..." Lucena furrowed her brow.

"She retired over fifteen years ago, Lucy." Eira said softly.

"She did, didn't she..." The queen closed her eyes and shook herself. When she opened them again, she was considerably more detached. "The centuries are catching up to me again. Burn the painting, Jamisen, it's worthless. Next house?"

"Yes!" Eira piped, turning away from the painting. "Thank you for the tour, Lord Jamison!"

Lucena was already marching towards the door.

"You're welcome, Your Majesty, Your Grace...es. Always welcome."

Moonstruck stole a glance at the stallion as she turned to leave. He looked absolutely heartbroken. It was hard not to say anything, but she managed. She hoped he'd just tuck the painting away in a vault somewhere, but half suspected that Lucena might send someone to make sure he'd burnt it as instructed.

She sighed softly to herself as she stepped out on to the front porch, then couldn't fight back a yelp as the Eye of Magmanus glared down at her.

"Is there a problem?" Lucena asked.

"Good gracious what is that!?" Moonstruck decided to roll with it, and pointed impishly at the eye.

Lucena grinned. "That is the Eye of Magmanus. He watches over us even in his slumber, no one escapes his gaze. I assume your fright means you did not notice it yesterday?"

"My quarters were on the wrong side of the airship, I think." Moonstruck made the puppet shudder.

"You get used to it, after a while." Eira supplied helpfully.

"Lets head over to the Delvins holdings next. Lady Caroline must have heard we were in the neighborhood by now." Lucena indicated a multi-story mansion up the road. As if on cue, an honor guard appeared on the front lawn, forming up on either side of the front walk.

"She always manages to whip up a batch of cookies for us."

"Oh, are we walking? It's so nice to stretch my legs." Eira chirped.

"Indeed it is." Lucena agreed.

Moonstruck said nothing, following behind trying to shake the gaze of the Eye. It seemed to follow her every move, glaring directly into the puppets eyes like it was trying to see into her soul... wait, back that up. She blinked her actual eyes a few times as she reached the last stair and started off across level ground. The Eye wasn't staring at her, but at the puppet. A puppet with a simple illusion over it. A puppet that should be plainly visible as a puppet to a powerful scrying spell like that. Was the eye just an elaborate hoax meant to frighten everyone? Was it simply programmed to make eye contact with anything resembling eyes? Or was it not working the way it should?

She bit her lip and tweaked her scrying spell again, leaving the illusory eyes fixed forward, and shifting her actual point of view somewhere around the puppets belly. The Eye did not follow the spell; its gaze remained fixed on the puppets eyes. Moonstruck returned the spell to its former state, and scowled deeply.

She had forgotten about the Eye, and had not factored it in to her plans to explore the city, but if it really was an illusion, or malfunctioning, she needed to find out as soon as possible. She'd have to slip out into the city tonight. There was too much she had to explore before she dared send Joseph and Glenda out on their own. Not to mention too many things she had to gather to make it so they _could_ go out into the city without her.

She logged all of that away and focused ahead again, on Lucena and Eiras idle chatter. The next house was much the same as the first, albeit of a different architectural style, and from a later era. House Rosegard art and artifacts seemed to be a popular motif among the rich and powerful, though Lady Caroline did indeed have cookies ready for them when they arrived. They were simple sugar cookies, but Moonstruck was thankful for any refined sugar, at this point.

They made their way around the neighborhood not unlike Nightmare Night trick-or-treaters, and by the time the heat of the day hit, they returned to the airship to drift across town for a late lunch. Pendletons was not unlike various other upscale restaurants Moonstruck had been to; menus full of _haut_ _e_ cuisine that wasn't actually any good, and prices too high to print on the menu. The melon salad was just sad, and her order of flat-bread and hummus was so pitifully small and tasteless that Moonstruck was very much inclined to break cover and march herself over to the nearest falafel cart - nevermind that the nearest falafel cart was hundreds of miles away.

She had to shake her food-based grumpiness when they returned to the tower to play a few rounds of cards in the queens solar. Indeed, she found herself having to devote all of her mental muscle the cards.

Lucena was quite possibly one of the worst card players she had ever encountered. And going by the way Eira giggled, and fidgeted, and generally made an over the top show of being bad at cards, she was an abysmally sore looser. Moonstruck was used to throwing a few hands to get a feel for her opponents body language, and to lull them into a false sense of security, but this was something else; a careful balancing act.

Lucena broadcast everything, there was no secrecy to her body language whatsoever. If she had something good, she grinned, and occasionally giggled, and wiggled. If she didn't have anything she glared at the cards as if they had personally insulted her. _That_ expression prompted Eira to do something dumb so that the queen would still win – which made Moonstruck suspect Eira was at least a decent card player. If things were generally just going badly she'd drum her fingers on the table, or tap a hoof on the floor. Moonstruck couldn't lose every time as Eira could, since she was a card master by all accounts, but she couldn't win either. Not a lot, anyway. Just a few hands, less than half of the rounds they played. It was absolutely nerve wracking. Especially when she underestimated how bad Lucenas hand was and won purely by accident a few times.

"I must say, you're an excellent player." Lucena commented after one of Moonstrucks cautious wins. "I don't think anyone has been able to beat me in quite some time."

"Sorry I'm not a good opponent." Eira ducked her head sheepishly.

"You're an amazing player!" Moonstruck gushed. "I'd love to play you more, to figure out all your secrets!"

Lucena let out a hearty laugh, as Eira threw her a sideways glance. Moonstruck winced with her actual face. That was a good line for the queen, but Eira was no fool. She'd have to be extra cautious around the frosty mare. Luckily Eira was going home at the end of the day, which left a few hundred miles between them, unless she showed up for some event or another.

The door to the solar swung open, and Prince Maximus strode in, looking amazingly bored. He had a scroll in one hand.

"Ah, Maximus, how did your visit with your father go?" Lucena asked, taking the scroll from him as he reached the table.

"He did not wake up to greet me, Mother." He sighed.

"He appreciates your presence, all the same." She waved dismissively. "Ah, good, the paperwork is in. This authorizes your bodyguard to hunt, if need be. He has free reign of the eastern foothills. There are a number of feral sheep over there."

Lucena slid the scroll across the table to Moonstruck. "Clearing them out would be doing us something of a favor."

"Oh! Thank you! I was wondering if there was any paperwork involved with that." Moonstruck unrolled the scroll and skimmed over it quickly. It was a royal decree, alright. Probably meant more for anypony who patrolled that area, though it did designate a flight pattern for coming and going.

"Wasn't it your job to take care of the sheep, Maximus?" Lucena turned to her son.

"It... was, when I was head of slave acquisition." He said hesitantly. "But we found that pegasus will sometimes risk hunting them out in the open, so we left them alone to lure the pegasus out."

"I'd rather starve them out." She snorted. "Well, I suppose your laziness means her bodyguard has a meaty meal, and the sheep will ultimately be removed, so it all works out."

She blinked a few times, then eyed Moonstruck. "Speaking of, where _is_ your bodyguard?"

Moonstruck adjusted the puppet slightly as she made it scratch the back of its head.

"Sleeping, I presume. I did not think I would have need of him today, seeing as how I was safely in your presence."

Lucena smiled slightly. It wasn't a pleasant smile. "Of course."

She stood and stretched. "I am afraid the fun must end now, as I have affairs to attend to, and Eira needs to get back up to Maredor."

"Yes! Yes, I should go pack." Eira stood as well.

"Maximus, escort Duchess Angelina to her quarters."

"Yes, Mother." He frowned, but politely offered a hand. Moonstruck hesitantly took it, hastily beefing up the illusion in that hand to make it feel more fleshy, and less like a wooden ball with pencils wired to it. Thankfully he let the hand drop once she was on her hooves.

"You will see me off, I hope, Maximus?" Eira called after.

"Of course, Your Grace."

Maximus did not make conversation as he led her away from the solar and down a complicated series of hallways. Moonstruck was a bit disinclined to speak as well, though she was unsure if the duchess would prattle on about something, or not. Ultimately she decided that the character required some idle conversation.

"So, do you have any estimate on how many sheep are out there? Swiftclaw can have quite the appetite."

He blinked a few times, then threw a glance at her. "I cannot say, for sure. Several hundred, at least." He glanced over his shoulder. "But that was a few years ago. The drought has gotten worse since then."

Moonstruck frowned, both with her real face, and the puppets. "Well, Swiftclaw is resourceful. He'll find something."

The prince merely grunted. He paused in front of a pair of double doors and pressed a button. Moonstruck could hear machinery behind the doors. She groped for a topic, a safe topic.

"I'm surprised at how warm it is here." She blurted as the elevator arrived. "I'd assumed a country so far north would have cool summers."

Maximus cast an annoyed glance at her as the doors opened, and they stepped inside.

"20th floor." He told the operator. Then, to her; "Our summers are warm."

"Yes, I noticed. I was surprised by it."

He sighed wearily and rolled his eyes. Moonstruck decided that annoying the prince was probably a safe game to play.

"Nothing like back in Bananalund, of course. It's so much drier here. Really, it's the humidity that will get you back home." _Stuffy elevators might do the trick here_. She adjusted the dress slightly, glad that she'd be free of it in a few minutes. "It seems strange you've had so little rain – the mountains outside are lush and green."

The prince flicked an ear towards her. "Are they, now?"

"Yes, quite. It was rather lovely. Excellent weather too, until the storm hit."

The prince seemed about to speak several times, then let out an ambiguous grunt. Moonstruck was intrigued, but unsure how to proceed. The opportunity passed as the operator stopped the lift on her floor. The prince led her out of the elevator and down the hallway to her door.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Moonstruck curtsied awkwardly. The prince nodded, bowed and left. He did not look back.

* * *

"I still say this is a bad idea." Joseph whispered, turning the plain gray pebble she had given him over in his talons. It was a completely unremarkable pebble; oblong and about the size of a marble, worn smooth from the water of some distant river. No one would peg it as a magical artifact.

"I heard you the first dozen times." Moonstruck muttered, taking inventory one last time. She'd been able to scoop up enough pebbles on her walk earlier to set up a basic teleportation network, but had only enchanted five of them. They each had one to act as locators, and a point of reference for her to teleport to if need be. She carried an extra with her to leave somewhere outside the tower, and one tucked away in a corner of their suite to act as a temporary hub that connected them all together. She'd need to find a proper cut gem to act as a hub later, but for now the little bit of white quartz she'd snagged from a flower bed would do.

"I still don't understand how this works." Glenda frowned down at the pebble resting at her hooves. "I have to talk to the rock?"

"Yes – look, the fancier stuff hasn't been enchanted yet. This is just an emergency nodestone that will allow you to teleport out of the tower if something goes wrong – which can give you a vital head start out of the city." Moonstruck huffed. She'd already explained this several times.

"If I get into trouble that I need backup for, those pebbles will vibrate. You stay put for now 'cause you're not up to any fights yet. Joseph just has to say 'sudo-Mooney' and his pebble will teleport him to where I am."

"Why 'sudo'?" Joseph wrinkled his snout and furrowed his brow.

"It's... programming language – it's just something that isn't used in casual conversation, so you're less likely to activate the node by accident."

"Okay..."

"If your pebbles light up, I'm in _serious_ trouble, and you need to escape. Just tell the pebbles 'sudo-escape', and they will either teleport you to wherever I've placed the remote node, or to a point three miles south and about one hundred feet up – so be ready to fly."

Glenda frowned deeply.

"I thought you had to have line of sight or a nodestone to teleport like that." Joseph eyed her suspiciously.

"On the fly, yes. You know that big math problem I was tearing my mane out over earlier? I was graphing out the coordinates for a blind teleport." She sighed. "It takes a while to work the numbers, and you always wanna do it in an open area to avoid becoming one with rocks or furniture or something. That's why I'm plopping you a hundred feet up. From what I saw earlier, the buildings aren't very tall over there."

"Right." Joseph scratched the back of his head, frowning now as well.

"If _you_ guys run into trouble, say "sudo-trouble", and _my_ nodestone will vibrate. I'll teleport back." Moonstruck triple checked to be sure her little velvet pouch was secure around her neck. "Got it now?"

The others grumbled.

"Alright." Moonstruck spun and stared out the french doors leading to their balcony. Outside, the dingy glow of the city made the moon seem distant and small. "I shouldn't be gone long."

"Good luck."

She nodded, then cast her invisibility spell, and a silencing spell on her hooves, and stalked to the doors. Opening one just enough to allow herself through, she stepped out onto the balcony. Pausing a moment to listen for any patrols, she closed the door behind her, then prowled to the edge to stare down at the manicured lawn twenty stories below. It wasn't the longest drop she'd ever attempted, but it was going to have to be the stealthiest.

Glancing up to confirm that the Eye was indeed unable to see her at this angle, she hopped up to perch lightly on the rail. Fanning her wings for balance, she watched the ground for any sign of movement, then stepped out into the void. She did not fly down, simply let herself fall with wings and legs outspread to slow her decent. The last time she'd tried this it had been difficult to build up enough of an air cushion without flapping, but this time it seemed to be going much more smoothly. Thirty feet off the ground, she pulled her legs in to landing position and fluttered her wings to bring herself almost to a stall.

She landed heavily, but not roughly, and most importantly _quietly_ a second or so later, with a minimal blast of wind off her wings. She remained crouched, wings fanned, ears flicking this way and that. No reaction from anything that might be nearby. Nodding to herself, she folded her wings, and started off at a slow, careful trot, making her way to an arbor covered path that wound its way through the tower rose gardens. She could just as easily trot straight across the lawn, but she'd long ago learned that the key to sneaking around invisibly was to act as if you _weren't_ invisible.

Curiously, the tower did not have a proper wall encircling it, and most of the grounds in the immediate vicinity were vast, intricate rose gardens interspersed with wide greensward's. One would assume that Lucena would have erected a wall at some point, but aside from having frequent patrols, she seemed to be content to leave the whole thing open. Then again, going by what she'd seen thus far, Moonstruck strongly suspected the mere presence of the queen made the tower an undesirable place to try to invade. She was about to find out how difficult it was to escape from.

As she darted her way through the gardens, carefully avoiding patrols and open stretches, she couldn't help but notice that the roses were of exceptional quality and quantity. She was far from an expert, but she'd seen more variety in this small stretch of garden than she had in her entire life. Red roses seemed to be the preferred, but judging by the array of other colors, and signage placed here and there, there was an extensive specimen collection as well. She wondered how many varieties could only be found in Roanamia. Likely quite a few, since it had been cut off from the world for so long.

She froze as a sharp hiss sounded to her right, then tilted her head to the side as she watched dozens of sprinklers pop up out of the flower beds and on the lawns. Severe drought didn't seem to mean much to Lucena. At least they were watering at two in the morning, as opposed to two in the afternoon, when most of the water would just evaporate off.

Moonstruck quickly discovered that sprinkler time was an ideal time to sneak around, as the patrols seemed to avoid the areas that were presently being watered – even though they stuck to paths that were well out of the way of the spray. This allowed her to make it to the very edge of the garden; its boundary marked only by a low, boxwood hedge. Here was the tricky part. Was it enchanted? She dared not try to check for any spells from her room, as that would most certainly draw attention to herself, but here she could do a very passive probe without raising any alarms. She hoped.

She did not approach the hedge immediately, but circled to the south a short ways to make sure she was still blocked from the Eye. She didn't think it could see her, but she didn't want to risk it just yet. Not before she'd placed a nodestone out in the city. Locating a tallish statue, she crept along the length of its shadow to the hedge, and stopped two feet from it. She worked her jaw around a little, then decided to cast her anti-snooping spell, but limited it to a six foot, by six foot cube.

There was nothing. Or... no, there was something very faint, but it was... eroded, and so weak she wouldn't have noticed it if she wasn't using the utmost caution and searching for even the most minute anomalies. Was it a trap? Was the spell mostly dormant? Or was the spell simply so old that it had faded away, for the most part. She stood still and listened for a few minutes, waiting to see if anypony would come to investigate, but the only sound was that of the sprinklers.

She cast a slightly more powerful spell that searched for magical tripwires and the ilk, but limited it to a narrow slice of hedge and the space above it. Again, there was nothing - or not enough to go on, at least. Either these spells were so advanced that they couldn't be detected by one such as herself, or they simply weren't there. Again she waited to see if anyone came to investigate.

The sprinklers nearest her shut off, then another set hissed and spurted to life a short distance away.

Biting her lip, she repeated her spells on a small section of cobbles on the other side of the hedge, and found them curiously empty as well. That was it then, she simply had to hop over and see what happened. She backed up a few paces, then lunged forward at a canter, clearing the hedge in one graceful leap. She immediately ducked low, and bolted across the open space beyond. Sliding to a halt in the shadow of a building, she tried to pant quietly, and watched.

Nopony came for five minutes. Nor ten. At fifteen a patrol ambled past, but they were about as bored and sleepy as everyone else she'd seen.

 _It can't be this easy._ Moonstruck scowled, then spun and headed deeper in to town, relying on her fuzzy memories of the cities layout to head to what seemed to have been a vast park at one point. It was a mile or so from the tower, and a good place to plop a nodestone down, as it seemed to be pretty overgrown.

Pausing occasionally to listen, and check on her nodestones, Moonstruck trotted her way down the confusing but empty streets, keeping to the tower side of the road to stay well out of sight of the Eye. The neighborhoods closest to the tower had a little activity, but the further away she got, the quieter it became. By the time she was two miles away, she was convinced half the buildings were empty. Which made no sense because there were ponies sleeping on the streets.

It was more than a little shocking to see; homelessness wasn't really a _thing_ in pony controlled nations. All ponies were entitled to a home, and whatever aid they needed to get back on their hooves – really, one had to work at it to be homeless out there. She'd heard of problems with extreme poverty in other nations, but Trot didn't do business with them, so she'd never seen it herself. Pony nations simply didn't associate with any government that treated its people so poorly.

She took note of who these ponies were as she passed. They seemed to be mostly earth ponies, but there were more than a few unicorns scattered among them. She couldn't see any pegasus, but she had a horrible suspicion they weren't allowed out. All age ranges were represented, though very young, and very old seemed to make up the majority, and they were all far too thin, and cold even in the relatively warm night air. It was cooler now than it had been during the day, but far from cold enough to warrant bundling oneself up in many layers, and huddling around fires burning in trash cans.

Why they didn't squat in the empty buildings became clear as she watched a few bricks tumble from a third story balcony into a hopefully empty alley. The buildings were crumbling away. It was probably safer out on the sidewalk than indoors. She wondered what they did in the winter. Even if it wasn't snowing, winter this far north must be brutally cold, did they chance sleeping indoors?

The squalor continued for blocks and blocks. A low, hot rage began to simmer in her blood like the churning of molten rock far beneath the earth. This was absolutely unacceptable! Even _one_ district this derelict was bad enough, but from what she'd seen, vast stretches of the city were like this, and it was possible that this wasn't even the worst neighborhood!

She pulled her ears back and broke into a canter after a dozen blocks, unable to stomach the sight any longer. _Hang in there a little longer. We're gonna get outta here, then we're gonna come back and bust this place wide open._

The city passed in a blur as she cantered, then trotted swiftly from shadow to shadow, fairly confident that nopony actually patrolled out here, though she was still careful not to disturb any of the sleeping denizens. It took her a solid half an hour to reach the park she'd seen from the air, and another half an hour to find a way inside. Overgrown didn't even begin to describe it – it was an absolute tangle of massive wild rose vines, some sort of ivy, and long dead blackberry brambles. The locals had carved trails out here and there, which helped somewhat, but it was likely only the forgers of those trails who knew the way through the prickly labyrinth.

She wasn't entirely sure why she wanted to see what was at the center of the park. It had seemed like a statue was in here somewhere, and it was likely just another rendition of Lucena, but something was drawing her to it all the same. Curiously, nopony was camped out in the labyrinth, and she had passed by a number of hollowed out alcoves that would have provided a cozy campsite for a few ponies. Sure, the bulk of the plant life was dead or dying, and there was an unpleasant musty smell permeating everything, but it had to be better than on the sidewalk, right?

She very nearly missed the turn that opened up into the center of the park, it was such a small opening. Squeezing through it was a bit of a trick, but she managed. It seemed strange that it was such a narrow slit in the vines, considering how heavily traveled the path was. Cautiously she padded out into the clearing, staring up at the larger than life statue of a rearing alicorn mare. Her horn had cracked and fallen off at some point, leaving a jagged stump, and her outstretched wings were crumbling away. She wore a heavy collar that had empty sockets where gems once rested, and bronze roses twinned around her hooves. Her cutie mark was etched into her flanks; a single, perfect rose blossom with a shimmering starburst behind it, that seemed to indicate that some sort of foil or filigree was still present. It was a spectacular statue, all and all, and most certainly not of Lucena. Perhaps that's why it was being allowed to decay away.

At least, officially; somepony had built a small shrine at the base out of scrap wood and cinder blocks. She could just make out the shape, and scent of votive candles resting inside. The candles were out now, but there was still a faint scent of waxy smoke lingering in the still night air. Twitching her ears, Moonstruck cast her gaze around the clearing, took note that the vines had all carefully been trimmed back from the statue, double checked that she was still out of sight of the eye, then crept forward.

As she drew closer to the statue, she could just make out writing on a bronze plate attached to the base, but the script was not a language she was familiar with. Somewhere back in the reading material Celestia had supplied her was a footnote that stated Roanamia had had its own language once upon a time, but had largely been using the common language for eons. Either the statue had been dedicated in the traditional language for, well, traditional reasons; or it was so old that the old tongue was still in regular use.

"Hello?"

Moonstruck froze, every hair on her body standing on end. She was standing out in the open, half way to the shrine. She was still invisible, as near as she could tell, and her hooves were still silenced. There was no way somepony could know she was here.

Something moved within the shadows of the shrine, then stepped shakily out into the artificial twilight of the city glow. The shrinekeeper was an exceedingly old unicorn mare, likely far older than Glenda. She seemed to have a cutie mark, but it was so faded that Moonstruck couldn't even begin to make it out. She was surprisingly tall, but painfully thin. Her coat seemed to be a lighter color with darker areas on her legs and face, though in this lighting it was impossible to tell for sure. Her silvery white mane and tail pooled around her hooves, and her eyes stared out unseeing, as they were completely clouded over.

"Hello?" She asked again, her voice barely a whisper. She turned her head, swiveling her ears, trying to locate the intruder.

Moonstruck grimaced but remained silent, watching the ancient mare with great trepidation.

"Don't be frightened, child." The mare smiled. "It's late... or early... but, you are still welcome here. You are always welcome here. Lady Rosalina would never turn away a lost soul."

Moonstruck wondered if she was referring to herself, or the statue.

"It's alright. This old mare won't judge you. I will even light a candle for you, to get you started..." she turned and carefully stepped into the shrine again. Moonstruck could just make out a faint glow of magic, then one of the candles flared to life, illuminating the mares weathered face. She had a large, ragged scar running the length of her snout, and a conspicuous crack in her horn. Moonstruck was amazed she could use magic at all with an injury like that. The flickering candlelight also revealed her coat color to be a faded red roan – the first actual roan she'd seen in Roanamia.

"There you go. There are matches in the right hoof drawer, and incense in the left. I must return to my slumber, but you may stay as long as you need." With that, she turned again, and exited the shrine, walking slowly but steadily to a little lean-to that was propped against the shadowy side of the statue that Moonstruck had not noticed before.

She did not linger in the clearing. Casting one final look up at the statue, Moonstruck spun and trotted silently back into the brambles. Retracing her steps, she located an out of the way alcove, and jammed the remote nodestone into the dirt, then piled leaves on top of it. Closing her eyes, she brought up the spell she'd placed on it, tweaked it slightly to adapt to its surroundings, then activated it; linking it to the hub stone back in her chambers. Now, if Joseph and Glenda needed to escape in a hurry, they could teleport here, instead of out in the open above the city. Nodding to herself, she threw a glance in the direction of the statue, then turned and trotted back to the trail. She needed to get back, but she still had one last thing to do.

Once she was out of the brambles, she slinked along the adjacent boulevard until she reached a wide intersection. She could see the top of the tower from here, and if she stepped out from the shelter of the building, the Eye. Steeling herself, she did just that, staring up at the great glowing orb floating a thousand feet above the city.

It did not shift down to glare at her. It did not move at all, in fact. It stared vacantly out into space. It reminded her very much of a cat Patch once had who often slept with his eyes open. It was disconcerting to see the cat do it, but a relief to see the Eye in such a state. But, what happened if she took flight?

She crouched and spread her wings, not taking her eyes off the Eye as she sprung lightly into the air to make her way along the street just below the level of the buildings. It never looked at her, but she never lost sight of the pupil as it seemed to always stare outwards. Intrigued, Moonstruck dared to pull up a little higher, looking around now for any air traffic, but seeing none.

She was half way back to the tower before the eye showed any signs of motion. Moonstruck immediately tucked into a dive to land on the roof of what she hoped was a stable building. The Eye was not looking at her, but it had shifted its gaze downwards. Was somepony out here to draw its gaze? It was coming up on four, it was possible some ponies were getting ready to go to work. But should she be able to see the Eye look at somepony else? Supposedly it was always looking at ones self, so she shouldn't be able to see it looking at other ponies. She scanned the rooftops in the direction the Eye was looking, her gaze settling on a strange silhouette three or four buildings over. It was motionless. She took flight again, cautiously skimming just a few feet above the rooftops, glancing back and forth between the Eye, and the object.

Landing on the roof in question. Moonstruck waited a few seconds to make sure the Eye didn't shift its gaze to her, then cautiously approached. The object was a stone gargoyle, and the Eye seemed hellbent on staring it down. She grinned. The Eye was programmed to look for eyes, which is why it had been staring at the puppet eyes yesterday, and why it didn't notice her now.

Feeling confident, but somewhat confused, Moonstruck took off and headed back to the Tower. She would have to fly up to her balcony, but she knew better than to fly onto the grounds themselves. Lucena didn't have a wall built, nor any spells on the ground, but that didn't mean she didn't have something up in the air. Landing a few blocks from the tower, she cantered the rest of the way, only pausing for a minute as a patrol passed along the hedge. Once they were out of earshot, she simply hopped back into the garden, and made her way around to the wall below her balcony.

Flying straight up was always a trick, but she didn't want to risk straying into what might be enchanted airspace. Nopony really expected anyone to be able to gallop up walls unnoticed. Well, Acorn, would, but he'd been there for that particular trick. Taking one long look around the tower grounds and the air above it, Moonstruck decided now was as good a time as any. She crouched low, then lunged at the wall with a powerful down flex of her wings that sent her careening upwards almost fifteen feet. She started running as soon as her hooves made contact with the wall, and buzzed her wings to keep her moving upwards, but not outwards. Climbing twenty stories this way was a mad sprint indeed, but she was just past her balcony in less than a minute. She pushed herself away from the wall, rotated so that her legs were in the right direction, and landed lightly on her balcony with wings outspread to cushion her fall.

No alarms rang, no ponies came running, there wasn't even a patrol passing by. Smirking, she hoped this didn't mean they'd already gotten Joseph and Glenda and were just waiting for her to show up. She listened at her door for a few moments, then cautiously pushed it open.

"That you?" Joseph asked softly.

"Who else?" She slipped inside and shut the door behind her.

"Took you long enough." He hissed.

Moonstruck could faintly see him scowl. "Yeah, yeah. Anything on this end?"

"Nothing."

"Good. I'm going back to sleep."

Glenda yawned from somewhere in the shadows. "What did you find?"

"Getting out of here might be easier than I thought." Moonstruck grunted, canceling her spells and ruffling her wings. "Just a few days of scouting around, and item gathering, and we should be able to make it out of the city easily once you're strong enough to fly."

* * *

A/N: Memo to me: keep chapters in mind the next time I write something really long.

Also, Moonstruck confirmed for fucking nerd.


	18. Chapter 17

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

The next few days proved that Moonstruck had spoken too soon. She had made a little too good of an impression on the queen, and found herself being invited to a number of functions and parties; making it difficult to sneak out to try to find the things she'd need to enchant for Glenda and Joseph during business hours, or slip out at night to continue placing nodestones like breadcrumbs to mark a trail. Technically she could just steal whatever she needed in the dead of night, but she felt uncomfortable taking from ponies who already had so little, and she dared not take anything from the tower – even if there was more than enough stuff that wouldn't be missed. Of course, there was also an issue of procuring funds to make those purchases. She couldn't just ask the queen for spending money.

The only saving grace was that the secret passageways seemed to be abandoned, which allowed Joseph and Glenda to do a little exploring in the tower itself. So far they'd mapped out about six floors. They were limited as to how much time they could spend out of the room, since tower staff would come by periodically to do housekeeping things, and it would be very odd if neither of them were there. Joseph, at least, could disappear by himself for a while, but only to hunt. If he was out, but no one had seen him actually leave, it would likely raise suspicion as well.

There were other issues she hadn't considered; namely invisibility. It was always a bit risky to cast an invisibility spell on a pony that wasn't capable of canceling the spell themselves. Time limits were useful, though in this situation could prove disastrous if the spell timed out at an inopportune moment. Enchanting an object to provide invisibility was much more reliable, and she had initially thought invisibility cloaks would do the trick, but as she spent several parties mulling over how to go about obtaining cloaks, or at least fabric, it occurred to her that a cloak would never work for Joseph, considering his anatomy, and both of them would likely need to fly at some point. So it'd have to be something else. Perhaps a simple collar with a voice activated spell.

She was going to need gemstones, she knew. Pebbles and things were fine for single, simple spells, and to act as basic teleportation nodes but to keep things efficient, she'd need a gemstone to handle multiple spells, and better command recognition. Gemstones would be pricy, probably as pricy as survival gear for Glenda would be. Although she insisted she wouldn't need much for their journey through the wilderness, Moonstruck wasn't about to drag an old mare on a long journey without so much as a travel cloak.

Another problem presented itself after a week: Glenda was recovering quickly, and was able to fly again, but she had nowhere to exercise to build her strength back up. Apparently Roanamian pegasai couldn't do much of what most other pegasai could do – chiefly flutter about indoors, or just above the ground, or backwards. Aside from Glendas wings simply being too large for the tight maneuvering required for indoor flight, she just... didn't seem to be able to defy gravity at all. She flew the way Joseph did – without magic. Or with a bare minimum of magic, at most.

It was perplexing, to say the least. Even more so when Moonstruck attempted to demonstrate a few things and found she was having difficulty with it as well. She could still hover, and maneuver indoors, but flying backwards, and generally flitting around like a hummingbird was next to impossible, and she couldn't put her hoof on why.

It would be another week before Moonstruck could slip out again. Lucena was finally tied up planning a big Summer Solstice event, and seemed to have shoved her aside, largely sending her off to attend gallery openings and the ilk with the prince that apparently didn't interest her enough to go herself. Moonstruck was not particularly looking forward to time with the prince, though she had to admit he was better company than his mother. Thankfully the prince was considerably more lax about keeping an eye on her, and didn't seem to notice, nor care if she wandered off for a bit, so she was able to scout around a little while on official outings. Mostly she ducked into shops to see what things were going for – which was what she was presently doing.

This particular boutique was far too fancy for what she needed, but it was a starting point. The prince had actually accompanied her (this particular gallery opening didn't seem to interest him – not that she could blame him, since most of the art was of his mother) though he stood boredly out on the sidewalk like a long suffering boyfriend being dragged on a shopping spree. It was hard to keep a straight face as she browsed the various dresses and pretended to linger over the shoes – even trying on a few sets to keep up appearances. She wondered wildly if she could actually twist his leg into buying something for her, but decided not to push it.

"Anything catch your eye, Your Grace?" A sales pony asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, several things, but I'm afraid I'm just window shopping today." She smiled sweetly at him. "I don't suppose you have any quartz jewelry? I'm something of a collector."

He blinked a few times, and straightened up. "I think we do! Natalie would know for sure... right this way!"

He spun smartly and trotted to the jewelry counter, where a unicorn mare was inspecting a gemstone with a magnifying glass.

"Natalie, the Duchess is interested in quartz jewelry." He gestured to Moonstruck and stepped aside.

"Oh, really? We actually just got a shipment in today from Quince! I haven't cataloged it yet, but I can show you a few pieces, if you like." Natalie beamed.

"That would be lovely – I'm only window shopping today, so I wouldn't bother you with trying to buy something not in inventory yet." Moonstruck laughed.

"Splendid!"

The mare hopped off her stool and trotted to a curtained off doorway.

Moonstruck inspected the contents of the jewelry case, clasping the puppet hands behind the puppets back as she did so. Most of the jewelry was pretty over-the-top, and abstract, which wasn't much different than the stuff she often saw high society ponies wearing to swanky parties back home. Gemstones were plentiful, and the prices were high, though she had no idea what the exchange rate would be. Eight hundred Roanamian rubees for a jade pendant seemed high, but for all she knew that was twenty or thirty Equestrian bits. For magical purposes, quartz was your best bet. They were good, solid magical conductors and reflectors, but also extremely common, and therefore cheap.

The mare returned with a few cases of samples and spread them out on the counter. "We have a nice variety today! Lots of amethyst and citrine, with some onyx, uncut agate, and some especially dark smokey quartz! Personally, I like this citrine pendant." She nudged the pendant in question. It was an especially gaudy piece, but loaded with useful gemstones that Moonstruck could easily pop out of their place settings.

"That _is_ an interesting one." Moonstruck smiled politely. If she'd actually been buying jewelry for herself, she would have gone for the more understated amethyst and smokey quartz pieces. Or the topaz that seemed to have snuck in there unobtrusively.

She chatted with Natalie for a short while, took a look at some interesting tiger eye earrings that the clerk insisted were all the rage at the moment, then carefully extracted herself from the boutique with both sales ponies convinced she'd be back at some point to buy a few things. Which she might, if the queen spontaneously decided to give her some spending money.

"Finally." The prince muttered as she stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Sorry, got distracted by the necklaces." Moonstruck sniffed. She glanced at the prince whom, she'd noticed, did not seem to transform when his mother wasn't around.

"I wonder, do you not favor the bipedal form?"

He started and looked up at her – not that he had to look very far, since he was quite tall in his natural state.

"It is wasteful. Mother insists its our true form, but I find it uncomfortable."

"Hmm. It does take its toll." Moonstruck agreed. She wondered if it was safe to ditch the puppet when the queen wasn't around. Probably not. The prince could probably get away with wandering around in a natural state, but she was still trying to keep on Lucenas good side.

"Well, where to next?"

The prince gave her a funny look.

"Goodness, you're right, this isn't a shopping trip – silly me!" She laughed. "I do have a bad habit of wandering off to shop. You've been such a good sport!"

The prince heaved a sigh. "I suppose exploring the neighborhood isn't such a bad idea. I'm sure you're tired of being cooped up in your chambers when Mother has no use for you." He started off down the sidewalk away from where their carriage was waiting.

"Oh, it's quite alright. There are a few interesting books in there." Moonstruck hesitated a moment, then fell into step beside him. She actually did want to go back to the tower, but she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to explore a little in broad daylight. Besides, it was easier to convince the prince she was an airhead this way.

It was brutally hot; the pavement practically sizzled, and the struggling trees lining the streets offered little shade. They were in one of the nicer neighborhoods on the west end of town, up on a hill overlooking the river, which was mostly dry. Few ponies were out and about at this time of day, though she suspected many of them were keeping clear of the area on account of herself and the prince. The odd pony they crossed paths with would cast their gaze downwards, or switch to the other side of the street as they approached. The shop keepers were generally warm and welcoming, though individual clerks would be very nervous – moreso around the prince.

She wondered how far the district extended, and whether she could wander out of the more affluent areas into what she hoped would be more of a middle class neighborhood, provided it was close enough. And Roanamia actually had a middle class. And provided she could stand being under the dress in all this heat long enough to find out. It was a lightweight linen dress with a hoop skirt, so it wasn't the worst possible thing she could be wearing, but it was still very stuffy.

So she prattled on about nothing in particular, meandered in and out of shops, and generally drove the prince up the wall – or at least tried to. He seemed distracted today, prone to staring off into space for long stretches. She was able to explore the bulk of the district however, but was disappointed to discover that it merely transitioned into residential areas, and not a lower-class shopping district. When the outing came to a close, and they were back in the lounge of the small airship they'd taken to the gallery, the prince suddenly pulled himself back to the present and gave her a pointed stare.

"Before you said that it was green on the other side of the mountains."

She made the puppet pull a quizzical look. "I did? Oh, yes, I did. And, yes, it was."

He worked his jaw around a little. "Do you remember where it started to dry out?"

"Hmmm, I can't say for sure. The land was very strange. We wandered in circles for weeks, even though we took different routes around the mountains. We found the castle purely by accident." She furrowed the puppets brow. "I think things turned dry when we finally made it out of the high valleys. I couldn't tell you how we managed it, we'd tried that trail before, and it had always sent us back."

He scowled and pulled his ears back. "Yes there's some distortion out there. I suppose it would be impossible to pinpoint the transition."

"Distortion? Magical distortion?"

"Yes."

"Well, that would certainly explain a lot!" She huffed. "Somepony ought to do something about all of that mess!"

The prince gave her a wry look, but said no more.

* * *

While Moonstruck pestered the prince, Joseph made the housekeeping ponies very uncomfortable. There was an exquisitely carved and very solidly built bookcase in the main living space of their suite that was both large enough, and strong enough to support his weight. He was currently perched on top of it, since the ceiling was also tall enough for him to fit up there comfortably. It was the perfect place to keep an eye on everything going on in the suite, as it was also situated in such a way that he could see most of the apartment, and more specifically, the ponies scurrying about within.

He didn't really expect them to do anything underhanded while Moonstruck wasn't around, but he provided an ominous presence all the same. Besides, the more they worried about him looming in the living room, the less they paid attention to Glenda. They didn't need anyone figuring out that Glenda had no idea what she was doing, much less that she was actually from Roanamia, albeit out in the mountains. At the moment she was helping them change the linens on Moonstrucks bed, a task simple enough for her to bluff her way through.

They had asked about her the last time they came through, though Moonstruck had been here for that, and informed them that the pegasus had taken ill while they had wandered and wasn't up to much, which was why their suite had been a bit messy. The ponies had had a rather curious reaction to Moonstrucks excuse – they'd believed it, but they seemed more than a little flabbergasted that Moonstruck actually cared enough about her servants to cut them some slack when they were ill, and that there was some implication that she actually picked up after herself in their absence.

The ponies in the bedroom chatted softly among themselves, but the ponies dusting and vacuuming in the main room were awkwardly silent, and made it a point not to look up. This pleased him greatly. Freaking out herbivores was always amusing.

He did not eat ponies, but the part of his brain that analyzed all creatures for prey/threat potential noted that Roanamian ponies tended to be smaller than your average pony – the perfect size for pouncing, and less likely to be strong enough to fight back effectively. At least the unicorns and pegasus were. Earth ponies were excessively strong for their size.

Moonstruck walked in as the housekeepers were wrapping up, thankfully she seemed to have sensed that they were in here, and was maintaining her disguise.

"Your Grace!" One of the mares gasped, dropping into a low bow. The rest of the ponies followed suit, though it took Glenda a beat to realize she should do the same.

"Welcome back." Joseph rumbled, shifting his weight and ruffling his wings.

Moonstruck, or at least, the puppet inclined her head to look up at him. "Ah, I see you've found a proper perch."

"Indeed."

"That's enough of that." Moonstruck waved dismissively at the bowing ponies. "I presume you're about done?"

"Ye-yes. J-just finishing up now."

"Good, good. Carry on then, don't mind me." She brushed passed them, making a b-line for the bathroom, as near as Joseph could figure.

The ponies exchanged confused glances, then scurried out the still open door. Joseph hopped down as he heard the door click shut. He padded over to lock it, then ambled back into the center of the room to grin at Glenda.

"Were you having fun scaring everyone?" She asked.

"Yes, yes I was."

She chuckled.

"All clear!" He shouted as he heard the bathroom door open.

"Good!" There was a great rustling, then Moonstruck appeared in the doorway, levitating the puppet over to its usual corner. "It was getting really stuffy in there."

"Did you find out anything useful?" Glenda asked.

"Yeah, actually. I have an idea of how much money I'll need, and I'm pretty sure I've convinced the prince I'm a complete airhead."

She shook off and rustled her wings. "Housekeepers give you any trouble?"

"No. They didn't want to cross Joseph." Glenda chortled.

Joseph grinned.

"Oh, _that's_ why you were up there." Moonstruck smirked as she poured herself a glass of water. "Unless somepony decides to drag me to a party tonight, I'm gonna try to sneak out early enough to hit some saloons while they're open."

"Saloons?" Joseph furrowed his brow, watching the alicorn casually sip her water.

"Mmmhmm."

* * *

9:00PM. The sun had just set, the moon was on the rise, and Bridle-Durs nightlife was just getting going. Joseph and Glenda had wrapped up their exploration of the secret passageways for the day, and were now settled in for a bit of reading. Moonstruck had no social obligations whatsoever. Tonight was the night.

By nine fifteen she was trotting invisibly down the streets of Bridle-Dur, carefully weaving her way through the crowds, and even more carefully trotting across streets. Invisibility was a bit of a paradox; on the one hoof nopony could see you which made it easier to sneak around. On the other nopony could see you, so they were more likely to bump into you purely by accident which tended to hamper any sneaking. An illusion was really better for these situations, but she was still relatively close to the tower, and had not yet spotted an opportunity to duck off somewhere to don her disguise and integrate herself into the crowd.

She needed to find an open saloon, and some unwitting ponies who had money to loose. If this was any other city it would be a breeze, but here she needed to find just the right establishment. She couldn't pop into some swanky place, it had to be a back-alley sorta dive where young rich ponies went slumming. Somewhere they wouldn't want to admit to being in, much less cry to their parents about when they lost money to a card shark. She'd work her way up to the upscale establishments later when she actually had money to put on the table. For now she just needed quick cash.

Her current budget goal was to rustle up enough to buy a broach or something from one of the more upscale shops, even though she would more than likely do most of her shopping at secondhoof stores. But first she had to find a dang saloon!

Even though this was a fairly lively area, many of the buildings were dark. Homeless ponies were still at their daytime posts, slumped along the sidewalk with crude cardboard signs begging for help, or work. Pedestrians maneuvered carefully around them, and while some were clearly pretty well off, others looked like they were one paycheck away from being on the streets themselves. A few individuals caught her eye; one elderly stallion that looked like he could keel over at any moment, a mare with two small foals sitting sullenly near a trash bin, and an older colt who had what appeared to be a pretty bad cold. She memorized the stretch of road where they were, and made a mental note to check in on them later, if they were still around when she was done for the night.

She was just about to cross a street when a knot of young unicorn stallions caught her eye. She backed away from the curb to observe them for a while, noting that they were in good shape, and wore lightweight jackets that were also in good shape. Silently she edged closer to them as they made their way down a side street, laughing loudly and obnoxiously. She grinned as she got close enough to overhear their conversation.

"No way bro, we should go hit Five Aces tonight. I heard Becky's back, and you _know_ I wanna tap that!"

"Oh please, you don't have a chance in heck, with her. We should go to Morties. The waitresses there are all fiiiiiine!"

"Aw, Morties is such a drag! Five Aces is always way more fun!"

"Why do we always have to come to Tower Shade? There's other neighborhoods you know."

"Because _somebody_ got us run outta Thorn Hollow."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine, Five Aces, then over to Morties?"

"Sounds good."

Moonstruck fell back a short ways, chuckling quietly to herself. Oh yeah, these were the guys. She shadowed them for a few more blocks, then stopped as they entered a shady looking saloon between two quasi-rundown apartment buildings. A faded sign above the door had a spread of cards with five aces instead of a written title. _Perfect._

Moonstruck looked around. The street was relatively empty, but she took no chances. Backing into an alleyway, she made sure it was free of ponies, then dropped her invisibility spell and donned her disguise. For the evening she'd be a chestnut unicorn mare with a white blaze running down her snout, and no cutie mark. This time she remembered to slim herself down to better blend in with the locals. She didn't want to look well fed, this whole con relied on her appearing to be a little desperate.

Properly disguised, she shuffled back out onto the sidewalk, and down to the corner to take the crosswalk to the opposite side of the street, even though there wasn't much traffic at the moment. She reached the door of the saloon, paused for a moment to glance around, then pushed the door open. It was a dive alright; full of any number of iffy looking characters, and one knot of rich colts settling down towards the back for a game of cards with some pretty rough looking older stallions.

Keeping her expression a tad nervous, Moonstruck made a show of swallowing hard, and slinking timidly into the saloon. She'd never been particularly good at flirting - okay she was downright terrible at it, but she wasn't bad at playing the damsel in distress. With her current disguise, it'd be pretty easy to catch someponies eye, and start the whole strange dance of stallions buying her drinks and trying to talk her in to things. The trick was making sure one of those things was playing cards.

She made her way over to the bar as one of the younger stallions ambled over to make an order. He spotted her immediately, and promptly sidled up to her.

"Hey, what's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"

"Oh... uh... just hanging out, I guess." Moonstruck made the illusion blush a little as she ducked her head. _That was fast._

"Alone?"

"Ye-yes?"

He did a terrible job of hiding his enthusiasm. "No, no, this is a terrible place for someone like you to hang out alone! You can come sit with us – I bet you're good luck!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Totally! I'll even buy you a drink! What'll it be?"

Moonstruck stared up at the sign above the bar. She didn't see any mention of cider. "I, er... just water?"

"Water? Aw, you should try the cactus juice. She'll have a cactus juice." The last part was directed at the barkeep.

"A-alright."

He led her to the table at the back and plopped down on a stool. "Found us some luck, gentlecolts! This is... er..."

"Melody." Moonstruck supplied meekly. "I-I'm Melody."

The younger stallions greeted her with knowing grins, the older ones merely grunted and nodded.

"I'm not playing yet, Jeremy's been trying to beat these guys for months." The stallion who invited her over said. "I'm Pete, by the way."

"Hi." She smiled faintly.

"Do you know how to play poker?"

"A little. My mom and I used to play cards all the time... back when we could afford things like that." She said wistfully.

"Hey, maybe you can play later!" Pete laughed.

"Oh, no, I'm nowhere near as good as you guys." She ducked her head and blushed again.

"It's alright, we'll go easy on you."

"You can watch us for a while to get the hang of it."

"O-okay."

As all of this went on, Moonstruck laughed hysterically to herself internally. If she hadn't seen this sort of thing happen before, she'd think it suspiciously easy, but she, Breezy and Patch had certainly had some fun grifting like this before, though they hadn't actually been playing for money at the time.

Their drinks arrived after a few minutes, and Moonstruck was dismayed to discover that cactus juice was about as palatable as potato spirits. Still, she sipped it periodically to keep up appearances, and watched the game, as Pete chatted her up. Or tried to, anyway. After a while the older stallions got bored and split off to play their own game, leaving the colts and herself to gather around the table for a friendly match.

Now the fun really started. Moonstruck let them win at first, shuffled clumsily when it was her turn, and giggled a lot. She didn't really have to watch them very closely, they were entirely predictable. After a dozen or so hands she won, allegedly by accident. The colts congratulated her on her success. After seven or eight non-consecutive wins, they decided to play for money.

"Oh... I'll have to bow out, I don't... I mean - I have a little money, but it's for groceries." Moonstruck sighed and slid her stool away from the table.

"That's alright, I'll start you off." Pete said hastily, pushing a short stack of chips towards her as he dropped a few coins in the pot. "You can pay me back later."

"Oh, no, I can't!"

"Really, it's fine." He gave her such a slimy grin she wasn't sure how he could have ever thought it was charming.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not hurting. Plenty more where that came from." He winked.

 _Sweet Celestia on a pogostick, he's lame!_ "A-alright, I guess. Just a little bit."

The cards were dealt to cheering. Moonstruck lost the first two hands, won the third, lost the fourth, then won the fifth. Her stack of chips had grown by about half, and the stallions had slammed back quite a bit of that cactus juice and were rather tipsy. It was time to start winning for real.

She kept it gradual; betting a little more aggressively each time she knew she had a winning hand, loosing here and there to keep them guessing. Once she had enough chips to pay Pete back what he'd loaned her at the start, plus enough extra to make a down payment on a gaudy broach, she pulled out all the stops. She could have easily cleaned them out, but stopped once she was sure she could buy that gaudy broach, and some tacky earrings to go with it.

"Well, it's getting late, I should go home to mother." Moonstruck yawned, gathering up her winnings (sans what Pete had loaned her) and sliding them into her pouch. "This was fun! We should do it again sometime!"

The others stood as she did, glaring hard at her.

"What the buck was that!?"

"P-pardon?"

"You're a card shark, aren't you!?" One of them barked – she'd never caught his name.

"Me? I would never!" She huffed, subtly planting her hooves. Teleportation was out, but kicking the table at them was entirely do-able. "In fact, I'm insulted that you'd even suggest such a thing!"

"She had to have cheated – CHEATER!"

"I never cheat!" _I don't_ need _to cheat._

The saloon had gone silent, all eyes were on them. She would have to go out the back, it seemed. Not really a problem. "Well, if you're going to treat me like this, I'm leaving!"

She turned tail, stuck her nose up in the air, waited a beat for the scraping of hooves on the worn wood floor, then promptly bucked the table at them, sending them scattering, and the table flying half way across the room. She could have easily sent it through the front wall, and possibly even the wall across the street, but she didn't make it a habit of using all of her strength on common ponies. Then she ran, scrambling past startled saloon-goers and to the hallway that led to the lavatories, and the back door.

Once she was out in the alley, she looked both ways, then chose the route with the most refuse to weave through. It would take her a bit to be able to simply outrun the colts, since she was heavier than them, but once she was to speed she could easily out-pace them. She didn't dare teleport or go invisible yet, not when they were following close enough to see. She strongly suspected more advanced spells weren't particularly common among unicorns here, and a card shark with those abilities would draw too much attention. So she ran, and resisted the urge to cackle to herself as they shouted and cursed a half dozen lengths behind her. For young stallions they weren't particularly agile. They likely didn't get out for a run, much.

There was a sofa at the end of the alley partially blocking her path, and she amused herself by simply leaping over it without opening her presently invisible wings. The street to the right was empty, so she turned that way, galloping up the road for a short distance before darting across the street and down another alleyway. The stallions were now over a dozen lengths behind – time to disappear.

They were still close enough behind to see her _actually_ disappear, which meant she'd need to do something clever. Feeling a little cheeky, she decided to project an illusion of an earth pony stallion walking down the sidewalk at the other end of the alley. The timing for this was everything; she adjusted her speed so that he'd be in the middle of the alleyway opening just as she was reaching the edge and... bam! To anypony watching they would have seen a chestnut unicorn mare barrel into a brawny black and white paint earth pony stallion. For Moonstruck, she simply switched places with him, donning the stallion disguise as the illusory mare scrambled away down the street. Simple, but painful; a sharp stabbing sensation jolted between her ears as she did so, making her regret showing off somewhat.

"HEY!" She shouted, after casting a spell that would drop her voice a couple octaves. She almost burst out laughing as she heard her own voice – she sounded very much like her father at the moment.

She glared down the street after the disappearing mare as the stallions caught up to her, sliding to a stop at the end of the alley.

"Hey! Did you see which way she went!?" They panted.

"That way." Moonstruck grunted, gesturing with her snout. She started off in the opposite direction, head held low, and ears pulled back with an intense scowl on her face.

The stallions didn't thank her before they darted off after the fake. She waited for the sound of their hooves to fade into the distance before she grinned to herself. That was _far_ too much fun – even with the pain. Deciding to keep the stallion disguise for the time being, she looked around to figure out where exactly she was. It was a bit after midnight, as far as she knew, and high time to be heading back. She had enough money for the time being, but secondhoof shops were closed now. The streets were mostly empty, making the going easier – even easier than walking around invisibly, since ponies could actually see her to react to her.

Reaching an intersection she recognized, she started to turn to head back towards the tower, but paused as she noticed a little market was still open. Curious, she crossed to the corner opposite the one she wanted to take a peek inside.

It was a grocery store, and the sign on the door indicated that it was open until 2:00am. Extra curious, she stepped inside to harsh electric lights, and a few ponies grimly scanning the sparsely populated shelves. Moonstruck casually picked up a shopping basket in her mouth and trod into the store, flicking her eyes over the price tags of various items, feeling her heart sink at every turn. Even without knowing the exchange rate, she knew all of this was expensive. Even the most basic items were nearing the prices of some of the cheaper jewelry she'd seen.

Wait, no, she needed to reclassify what she thought of as basic. In a drought riddled country, bread wasn't a basic item by any means. Bread had to be prepared, and it took flour of some sort. Flour took grains, and grain took water. Lots of water. And it took water, or milk to make the bread itself. So a loaf of bread costing four hundred rubees made sense, as did five hundred rubee bags of oats. Hay was in a similar predicament, so naturally it was more expensive. Anything that could be grown in a greenhouse would likely be cheaper. She made her way over to the produce section to confirm. Lettuce and spinach and the ilk were pretty sad looking at this time of night, but it wasn't as astronomically expensive as the little bails of hay stacked near the back of the store. The same was true of zucchini, which tended to be highly prolific in all sorts of conditions. Cucumbers and tomatoes were pricey, as were the oddball peppers. Even carrots, onions and garlic were up there. Fruit was entirely absent, which wasn't really surprising.

Suddenly remembering the homeless ponies she'd seen on her search, she ran a few numbers in her head, and decided she could spare enough to buy a few odds and ends for them. Several cans of barley soup, three heads of lettuce, several zucchini, and a single bunch of carrots ended up being about a third of her money.

"Wow, big spender." An earth pony mare commented as Moonstruck placed the carrots into her basket.

"Oh... uh, special occasion." Moonstruck smiled faintly.

The mare sighed heavily. "Well, ain't that just peachy." She squeezed her eyes shut, then shook her head. "Sorry, just worked a double shift."

"It's alright, been a long day for me too."

"Don't think I've seen you around before."

"Just finished up a moving job in the neighborhood, figured I'd stop in for groceries before I head home." She shrugged.

"That's smart." The mare nodded, placed a few zucchini into her basket, then started to walk away. "Well, enjoy your carrots."

"Yeah." Moonstruck watched her go, fighting back a frown.

She made her way to the checkstand, and ended up behind the mare, who only had a bag of rice in her basket aside from the zucchini.

"Evenin' Lina." The checker said. "Er, or is it mornin'?"

"Don't remind me." She groaned as she placed her basket on the counter. "Sometimes I don't think the overtime will ever end."

"At least its extra money." The checker smiled lamely.

"That's the only reason I'm putting up with it. It's barely more than I make already though, and my landlord was talking about raising rent again. I swear whenever he hears about any tenant making even a tiny bit more money than usual he tries to raise rent. What part of _temporary overtime_ does he not understand!?" She growled.

"Sheesh. You need to find a better building."

"I wish! Even with the rent hikes it's still one of the cheaper places to live. I'm half tempted to try squatting in Rose Lake, though I think those buildings manage to be in even worse shape than mine."

"They say that's why the homeless don't use 'em." The checker frowned. "That'll be three hundred."

She placed the proper coinage on the counter, frowning deeply. "Any idea when rice prices will come back down?"

"No, last I knew Lord Byron was still driving the prices up for some reason that probably has more to do with some kinda ego trip than any kind of shortage."

"Those north coast ponies are so spoiled!" She spat. "Just because they have water doesn't mean they can gouge us out of everything!"

"I know, and the local growers are no better – you know they're talking about raising zucchini prices again?"

"What!?"

"Seriously – the vendors were in here this morning talking about some problem with their water pumps, and they have to scale back production."

The mare – Lina, let out a very long, very irate groan. "Zucchini are about the only vegetable I can afford regularly! My kids are sick of 'em but its better than just plain rice!"

The checker grimaced as he slid her groceries into the canvas sack she'd brought in with her. "Dang. Are you still at least getting hay from that temple over in Dirtton?"

"Sporadically. Dirttons been on extreme water rationing for over a month now, so they're mostly trying to take care of their own."

The checker nodded. "Well, hang in there."

"I'm trying, I really am. Thanks." She picked up her bag and trudged out of the store.

"Sorry 'bout that." The checker said as Moonstruck set her basket on the counter.

"S'alright."

"New around here?"

"Just workin' a job over here today. Was surprised you were still open."

"Yeah, a lot of ponies get off work at midnight, so we stay open for 'em."

"That's good of you."

"Whoa, carrots."

"Yeah, special occasion."

"Nice. That'll be five hundred."

Moonstruck emptied her pouch onto the counter and carefully counted out the proper amount of coins. She'd very nearly used magic to do it, but caught herself just in time. She slid the coins over to the clerk, then slid the rest back into the pouch.

"Do you have a bag?"

"Ah – no forgot it, sorry."

"It's alright." The clerk ducked beneath the counter for a moment and came up with a canvas sack. "We're having a promo, so the bag is free with a three hundred rubee purchase."

"Oh, lucked out then."

"Yep." The clerk carefully placed everything in the bag, then slid it across the counter. "Have a good night."

"Thanks." Moonstruck hefted the bag, then wandered back out onto the street. Trotting a few blocks away, she slipped into the shadow of a building to drop her illusion and voice altering spells, and cast her invisibility and silencing spells. Now to see if those ponies were still around. If not, she'd see what she could do tomorrow night. Luckily she knew of a cold spell she could use to keep the veggies relatively fresh.

She wove her way back to a mostly residential area, to the street she'd seen the homeless ponies on. Many of them had left, likely heading back to what she presumed was the Rose Lake area that she had traversed on her first expedition in to the city. The old stallion was still there, leaning against the wall. She was half convinced he had died, but he suddenly let out a loud snore as she approached. Heaving a sigh of relief, she quietly set two cans of soup, a head of lettuce, two zucchini, and a carrot next to him, then kicked a rock into a nearby cluster of empty cans.

The old stallion stirred and lifted his head, looking around blearily for the noise. Then his eyes fell upon the food resting next to him. He stared at it for a long moment, then cautiously ate a little of the lettuce before gathering it all up into a ragged, patchwork sack. Looking around in great confusion, he shakily stood, then started off down the road. Moonstruck wondered if he was going to share it.

She trotted silently past him, retracing her steps to where she'd seen the mare with the small foals. They had moved to a more sheltered area, in a lean-to made out of shipping palates. Moonstruck left them two cans of soup, a head of lettuce, three zucchini, and three carrots. Again she threw a rock deeper into the alleyway to wake up the mare. As with the stallion, she woke instantly and looked around. Her reaction to the food was a bit more dramatic; she burst into tears.

Moonstruck was already off, searching for the colt with the cold, and finding him huddled next to a steam vent. That was probably good for his cold, all and all. She set the last of the food behind him, then kicked over a box. He whipped around blearily, squinted at the box, then looked down at the food. After a very long time spent processing this new turn of events, he cautiously sidled over to the pile and picked up a carrot. Moonstruck moved on, taking flight after a few paces to hasten her return to the tower.

It was hard to feel good about what she'd just done, considering there were thousands more ponies in the same state that she simply couldn't do anything for at the moment. It was going to take a lot to get this country working again. More than busting down the shield, more than kicking Lucena into a lava pit, more than simply setting everypony free. It was more than she could possibly hope to tackle by herself. But she could get the ball rolling.

hr

The next night she ended up being dragged to a party at one of the barons estates. The night after that Lucena had oddly felt like hanging around in her study and playing cards. Moonstruck amused her with a tarot deck they found on one of the book shelves by reading her future (all completely bull, of course), and the prince poked his head in once to deliver some paperwork. The third night she was free to escape for a few hours, though she kept it short. Secondhoof stores were not often open long past sunset, so she had little need to be out particularly late.

More than a little nervous to be out before sunset, she nevertheless made her way to a secondhoof store she had spotted while out in search of a saloon. She was disguised as a green, middle aged unicorn mare this time, and she'd brought her saddlebags with her to haul her loot. There were patrols out at this time of day – quite a few, in fact. Black and red clad soldiers marched four abreast and six deep down the crowded streets, their stern eyes glaring forward, and only forward. Yet, ponies were quick to get out of their way, and out of sight if at all possible. She was equally quick to do the same, so as not to draw attention to herself. She passed three such patrols on her journey, and she couldn't help but wonder what in blazes they – or their superiors (likely Lucena herself) thought they were accomplishing. Especially since they didn't seem to do it after sunset, when presumably ponies would be more likely to cause trouble, and it disrupted all of the carriage and wagon traffic something fierce.

The store in question was sandwiched between a laundromat and a run-down apothecary that she would not know was still in business if it wasn't for ponies coming and going from it periodically. The patrols were thankfully not on this particular street, so she was able to meander up the block without ducking into an alley, or pausing to inspect something in a storefront window that she actually had no interest in.

She pushed the door to the secondhoof store open, and stepped inside to the chiming of bells. The clerk barely glanced up at her. Normally Moonstruck would consider this bad customer service, but being ignored was precisely what she wanted at the moment. She browsed around a bit, investigating various kitchen gadgets and clothing before moseying over to the jewelry counter. There was a pretty decent selection of gemstones – possibly even more than what she'd seen at the more upscale places. Considering the price of food, it wasn't entirely surprising. Jewelry was pretty, but not as important as having money for food.

"Can I help you with something?" The clerk asked. Moonstruck didn't think it was possible to sound more bored.

"Yes, is that real amethyst?" She asked, indicating a matched set of earrings and necklace.

"Yup."

"Hmmmm..." Moonstruck wrinkled her nose. There was a lot to choose from, and the prices were good. She'd probably be able to get everything she needed in one trip, with plenty of money left over for collars, or fabric to make collars.

"You can take a look at it if you want." The clerk said, unlocking the case and removing the set in question. She set it on the glass counter top then took a small step back.

"Oh, thank you." Moonstruck lifted the necklace to inspect the gemstone more closely. It was indeed an amethyst. "My niece's birthday is coming up, and she just loves little trinkets like this."

"Cute."

Moonstruck set the necklace down, then spotted an ornately cut rose quartz pendant. She fought back a grin. _There's my hub._ It was only fifty rubees too, cheaper than carrots by quite a bit. After a bit of faked indecision, she walked away with the rose quartz pendant, a set of clip-on citrine earrings, a set of clip-on smokey quartz earrings, and three small uncut clear quartz crystal necklaces. The necklaces made collars entirely unnecessary.

If everything went smoothly, she'd have everything enchanted and ready to go by morning. The patrol coming up the block seemed to indicate that it might get bumpy. They were not looking at her, still glaring ahead into space, but she quickly looked down to carefully inspect the cracks in the pavement as they marched past. Slipping off to go invisible might get tricky at this rate. She might have to wait until the patrols stop to head back.

She started moving once the patrol was well up the block, keeping her head low, and eyes downcast just in case. If security was this tight around the tower she may have to wait until dark to get back up to her room, unless Joseph or Glenda signaled her, of course.

It had occurred to her earlier that she hadn't actually tried teleporting in to the tower, or even just within her own chambers. Perhaps security seemed so lax because Lucena was more concerned with unicorns powerful enough to cast higher level spells, and had simply focused most of her energy on thwarting any teleporting ponies. Unfortunately there was no good way to test that out without actually doing it.

Best case scenario there was only a general security alert, and no specific areas they wanted to search to find the teleporter. Worst case scenario meant she'd be found out almost instantly. She didn't have any real intention of escaping the tower through teleportation – it was meant as an emergency back-up if things got very bad, very quickly. The idea was to make it out into the city without it, and _then_ teleport as far as they can before flying out invisibly. That would likely give them enough of a head start to make it out to the broken areas – with luck they'd be on the other side of the mountains before anyone even knew they were gone. All of this scouting was primarily to give them plenty of escape routes; secondarily to give Glenda and herself time to recover; and thirdly to get a working knowledge of the cities layout that she could supply to Celestia when the time came.

She turned down a side street as another patrol started around a corner up ahead, disrupting traffic and sending ponies scrambling in all directions. She should probably just try teleporting to see what happened. A short hop across the living area of her suite should be enough, and it could be explained away as something mundane, or even accidental. Sneezing had certainly been a good time to accidentally teleport, back when she was first learning how.

She fought back a grin at that thought, and mulled over how likely it was that there was a passive shield around the tower. It had certainly seemed like there had been a shield at some point, but she couldn't detect anything active. It was possible that it only activated if or when someone tried to teleport in or out... which meant she might be able to teleport within the tower as much as she wanted, but as soon as she tried to go in or out, bam! Busted.

Traffic started to thin out as she crossed over into a more affluent area, drawing her out of her thoughts as she realized she was nearly alone on the street. Moonstruck kept her ears pricked for more patrols as she began looking for a place to disappear. Sometimes it was actually easier to disappear in a crowd, than with just a few scattered ponies around. They'd be more likely to notice her winking out of sight than if there was a lot of activity. Going by how on edge everypony was because of the patrols, she didn't think today was one of those days.

The opportunity finally presented itself when she was just blocks from the tower. She casually stepped behind a low wall, scrunched down to scuttle out of sight, turned into an alleyway and cast her spell as soon as she was behind a dumpster, and quite certain nopony else was around. Once invisible, she started off again, exiting the alley on the other end, then trotting the last few blocks to the tower. There was a patrol over here, but they were marching away from her, along the hedges that divided the tower grounds from the rest of the city. She waited for a few minutes to watch for any surprises. Aside from more activity in general pertaining to the early hour, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary going on.

Still... she didn't like coming and going during the day. Luckily she would only have to do it once more to put together a survival kit for Glenda. Theoretically she could get everything in one shopping trip. Hopefully.

Steeling herself, she waited for a gap in the carriage traffic and darted across the street, keeping a sharp eye out for any indication that she'd been noticed. Nothing happened when she hopped over the hedge. And nothing happened on her way back to the space below her chambers. Still nothing happened when she flutter-ran her way up to her balcony.

"I'm really starting to wonder about the security around here." Moonstruck commented once she was safely back in the suite.

Joseph and Glenda looked up from their books as she canceled her invisibility spell and set her saddlebags down.

"Things go well?" Joseph asked.

"Yup, got everything we need for this part of the plan." Moonstruck nodded. "Just need to enchant it all."

She frowned as she recalled what she'd been mulling over earlier. "Unfortunately, I... kinda need to test something before I go enchanting things. Could you clean up your stuff for a minute?"

"Why?" Glenda scowled.

"I don't know how much attention this will draw." Moonstruck grimaced. "I'm just gonna teleport real quick to see if there's some sort of monitoring spells on the tower."

"I thought you already checked for spells like that?" Joseph asked as he began gathering up their books and papers.

"For general snooping spells, yeah." She shrugged. "I do it every couple of days, actually. No, it's just the lax security got me thinking, and I was wondering if maybe there's a passive shield, or teleport detection spell over the whole tower. It's not part of your standard repertoire of espionage spells so I hadn't thought of it before. If its in passive mode, I wouldn't be able to detect it anyway." She shook her head.

"So you have to set it off." Joseph concluded sourly.

"Yeah." Moonstruck shuffled into her room to stash her saddlebags in the wardrobe in there. It was the most obvious place to look for contraband, but she hadn't found a better place for it yet.

"Wait, shouldn't that be part of the standard repertoire? Joseph barked at her from the other room.

"Eh, it is and it isn't." Moonstruck said as she trotted back out into the living area. "Usually there's a whole host of spells to physically keep ponies out, and you can't generally teleport into a shielded area anyway. I think only museums use passive mode to protect collections, during business hours."

"Oh, that kinda makes sense."

"What's happening now?" Glenda asked. Most magic stuff flew right over her head.

"I'm gonna cast a spell and see if anyone comes running." Moonstruck grunted. "Alright, here goes."

She teleported to the opposite side of the room. Turning around to face the others, she flicked an ear towards the door and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"I don't think they're coming." Joseph muttered after ten minutes.

"UUUUUGH! What is with this place?!" Moonstruck groaned, shuffling forward to flop on the sofa. "Sometimes I think we can just walk out of here when the queen isn't looking! But she's got everyone so terrified... AUUUUGGGHHH!"

"Sh-shouldn't this be a good thing?" Glenda asked, still wide eyed from the teleportation demo.

"Er... I think she means that it's weird." Joseph grimaced and scratched the side of his neck with one claw. "A place like this should have a lot more security measures. I think it's 'cause Lucena just scares the living snot out of everyone periodically to keep 'em in line."

Glenda shuddered. "I've certainly seen a few of those, although the queen herself never came out into the mountains, as far as I know."

"There's gotta be more to it than that." Moonstruck said into the sofa. "You can't be an evil dictator with a giant tower without building some sorta gauntlet that any heroes that happen by have to go through."

"Are you complaining that it's too easy?" Joseph quipped, grinning.

"YES!" Moonstruck lifted her head. "Because the easier things are, the more likely we're just being toyed with!"

Josephs grin melted away.

"Didn't think about that, did ya?"

"No, no I did not. Now I'm worried. Thanks." Joseph growled.

Moonstruck grinned smugly at him, then sighed. She hoisted herself off the couch. "Alright, I think we're in the clear. You can go back to what you were doing. I'll start getting everything enchanted."


	19. Chapter 18

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

"You know," Joseph mused as he finished up his dinner and placed the plate back on the serving cart the tower staff always brought their meals on. Moonstruck had left for another party over an hour ago. It was amazing how many parties Lucena threw, considering how joyless the tower seemed most of the time.

"I wonder if someone's on to us, and that's why they keep dragging Mooney off to things."

"No time to actually plan." Glenda grunted, frowning. "And we can't do anything until she gets her... magic... spell thing working."

"Right. Although, I think we should be able to explore the last few floors tonight. We've got, what, maybe five left?"

"Do you think it's safe?"

"I think it is." Joseph scowled at the tapestry behind which was one of the secret doors. "I think we've got the staff routine down. They drop dinner off at six, one of us rolls the cart back out into the hall around seven, usually. One of them comes by within fifteen minutes to take it away again, and no one comes around again until morning. They come in to do more extensive cleaning three times a week, always between breakfast and lunch."

Glenda nodded. "Ponies come and go outside until midnight, but no one comes near our door."

"And no one uses the secret passageways at any time. And they haven't for years." Joseph nodded as well. "I say it's safe enough to go poking around."

"I'm just fidgety enough to agree with you." Glenda stood and stretched a bit stiffly. "I don't know how I'm supposed to get myself ready to fly for my life if I can't even go for a walk every day."

"I know, right?" Joseph chuckled. "I'd take you hunting with me if I could."

He made sure they'd placed all of the plates back on the cart, then pushed it to the entryway. Slipping around it, he opened the door, stepped through, carefully spun around so that he didn't whack his tail on the door frame, then reached in and grabbed one of the handles on the cart to tug it out into the hall.

He could never figure out why pony tools had handles. Handles were for hands, not hooves. They had a really weird ability to pick things up, and manipulate objects with their hooves, and could do quite a bit with their mouths, too – and unicorns had magic, of course - but so much of their technology seemed geared towards something with hands. And something that stood on two legs, but didn't have a long tail, like he did.

Why would ponies design tools that were unnatural and even downright uncomfortable for them to use? He knew this wasn't just some weird Roanamian thing; every bit of pony technology he'd ever seen seemed geared towards a completely different species, with modifications made here and there to accommodate pony anatomy. The more time he spent around ponies, watching them use their various tools, the more he wondered if Lucena might actually be on to something with her bipedal form.

It was baffling.

Shaking his head, he marched back inside, carefully spun in the entryway, then closed and locked the door. The door, at least, had a simple lever handle and not a knob. Most anything could pull a lever down without difficulty, but it took hands with opposable thumbs to turn knobs.

"Perhaps... I _could_ go hunting with you." Glenda said slowly as he wandered back to the sofa area.

"Don't see how." Joseph flopped on the nearest ottoman. If they were going to go exploring, he wanted to wait until after they'd taken the cart away.

"Mooney can become invisible." Glenda scowled. "And she was talking about making it so that we can become invisible as well."

Joseph lifted his head. "Yeah, that's what she was doing to those gemstones last night."

"If I can be invisible, I can go with you when you hunt."

"That's not a bad idea." He nodded slowly. "They watch me pretty closely until I get to the foothills... and the Eye can see me until I go over the crest. I don't think you'd be able to cancel the spell, but you can tag along, and probably grab a fresh bite to eat."

"That would be wonderful!"

They settled into a comfortable silence, listening for the pony that came by to collect the cart, and any other stray activity that might happen past their door. Glenda pricked her ears up as Joseph could faintly make out hoofbeats in the hall, and the slight squeak of wheels. He watched Glenda as she slowly turned her head to track the motion of the pony, ears still up and alert. When the pony was out of earshot, she turned her gaze to the lounging dragon.

He grinned at her, then hoisted himself off the ottoman. They were out in the dusty, cramped passageways thirty seconds later, tracking their way along the twisting passages in complete darkness. Most of the rooms on this floor were unused, so no light crept in around door frames or vents. They'd been back and forth through here enough times to navigate without it. Glenda was surprisingly good at getting around completely blind. She would walk by the tip of his tail, her shoulder just brushing his feathers, stopping when he stopped, turning when he turned, always keeping perfect pace.

They chatted softly when they were in the midst of empty rooms, but fell silent as they reached a steep stairwell. The floors below had some activity, and they dared not let any echos betray their presence. It was a tedious expedition, feeling around in the silent darkness, navigating mostly by touch and scent, following air currents down forgotten corridors. Though there were many offshoots in various directions, the passageways mostly radiated outwards from the center of the tower, forming something of a haphazard spoke and wheel pattern. Stairwells were largely along the outer edge, likely because most elevators were near the center of the tower. There were fewer passages in the higher levels, as near as they could tell; probably because the tower tapered to a narrow spire as it went up. They never ventured above their floor, but lower floors had increasing numbers of passageways, some of them surprisingly spacious – it stood to reason that higher floors had less.

It took them roughly an hour to reach the fifth floor, which had so much activity they could converse again, as their soft voices would likely be lost in the muffled din of conversation and activity.

"Maybe we should just go straight to the ground floor." Joseph mused as they paused near a loud spot. There was some sort of machinery working on the other side of the left hand wall.

"Shouldn't we explore all of this floor?" Glenda hissed.

"I don't think we'll find anything different, and these floors are huge. We could probably spend all night and only cover one."

He could practically hear Glenda grimace. "The lowest level will be the most dangerous."

"I know."

"Alright, lets give it a shot."

Joseph grinned, and started off again. They turned right at the next intersection, then tracked along an especially active area where light shone in around and under many widely spaced doors. The dust here was as thick as anywhere else, so he worried little of anyone poking their heads in at an inopportune moment.

A left turn sent them down a dark corridor, then a right found them at the landing of a stairwell. After a short pause to listen, they cautiously descended. The stairwells did not all line up with one another, so each new floor required a slight detour to get around to the next one. The fourth floor was about as busy as the fifth, but nowhere near as busy as the third. The second and first were absolutely buzzing.

Unlike everywhere else in the building, the stairs continued past the first floor landing. Joseph furrowed his brow. Glenda nudged his tail with her wing.

"There's another stairway." He murmured.

Glenda was silent for a moment. "A... cave?"

"More or less." He scowled into the darkness, then leaned his head out and down, inhaling deeply. It was moist and cool down there, and he could smell moss. He leaned forward slightly to touch the top stair with his hands, feeling along the edge. Mooney had noticed that many of the stairs were constructed differently. She'd even chanced a light spell to take a look at the stones that made up the skeleton of the tower. She speculated that the tower was likely altered quite a bit in the past, and that perhaps the passageways had something to do with all of those alterations and renovations.

The stairs leading down into the darkness were much rougher than the ones they'd been traversing. He wondered if that meant they were older. He was about to suggest exploring the first floor and saving the basement for later, when he sensed it; a slight tug in the way magic flowed through the tower, like water seeping slowly through a hairline crack. There was broken space down there!

"Lets check it out."

Glenda grumbled disapprovingly, but did not voice her concerns.

Down they went, the scent of water and moss growing stronger as they made their way along the foundation of the tower. The disturbance didn't seem far, but that could be deceiving. Joseph allowed himself thirty minutes to satisfy his curiosity. If he couldn't find it in that time, they'd head back up.

The stairs stopped after approximately three floors, and the passage beyond was wide enough for two ponies to move comfortably abreast. Inexplicably there was a faint light coming from the walls and ceiling. It took them a few moments to realize the corridor was filled with some sort of glowing moss. The distortion was very near, Joseph could practically taste it.

It was hard not to pick up the pace when he was so certain the crack was just ahead but he moved slowly and cautiously, taking note of the stones that formed the walls, and the smooth cobbles beneath their feet. There was something very utilitarian about the corridor, almost mundane. Perhaps it was simply because they could see down here, which removed much of the mystique.

They were just reaching his time limit when they spotted the door. It was on the outside wall, and there was a rusted lantern hanging from a short chain above it. He and Glenda exchanged glances then cautiously crept forward.

It was a heavy cedar door with large iron bracers. It had a sign hanging on it that was just legible in the eerie blueish glow of the moss.

 **CITY OF BRIDLE-DUR – WATERWAYS DEPARTMENT**

 **FLOOD CONTROL MAINTENANCE DOOR 29262**

 **AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY**

Joseph stifled a laugh and glanced over at Glenda, whom was still sounding everything out. When she was done, she turned to him with a puzzled look.

"I don't get it."

"We just found a way out." And he was quite certain that the distorted space was somewhere beyond the doorway, out in the storm drains, most likely. He wanted very much to go and find it, but he dared not open the door without Mooney around to make sure it wasn't linked up to some sort of alarm system. Instead, he and Glenda ventured a few hundred yards further to scout out more of the tunnel. It was empty, say for the glowing moss, though there was another door on the inside wall a hundred yards away. It bore no sign, and showed no signs of being opened recently. In fact, the moss was growing up the heavy oak in a thick mat, which would likely make it quite difficult to open if anyone tried.

Content in the knowledge that they could likely come and go freely from the door without anyone noticing, they headed back. It would take them considerably longer to climb the twenty-plus stories to their room, even though it was generally easier to _climb_ stairs in total darkness than it was to descend them – especially for Glenda.

Stairs were another one of those weird things that ponies made, Joseph had noticed. They were extremely awkward for a pony to descend, and yet they were everywhere. Ramps were far more logical, but they were largely reserved for wheeled things.

"At least my legs are getting a good work out in all of this." Glenda muttered as they passed through the noisy second floor.

Joseph chuckled softly. "Tell me about it." He'd never had trouble with his joints, but his knees certainly did not appreciate all of these staircase adventures. At least he could go down onto all fours going up the stairs.

The tower seemed to crawl by slowly as they climbed and climbed. Past busy rooms; past long empty stretches, their path occasionally illuminated from underneath doors, but mostly in darkness. The dust was thick and the air was heavy, though it was thankfully cool with the sun down. It could get quite hot during the day. The tower had some sort of air conditioning but none of it reached in here.

Finally, after what seemed an age, they reached the twentieth floor. They started off down the home stretch, grateful to be on level ground, then froze as they realized someone else was in the passageway ahead. Joseph bristled and sniffed in the direction of the intruder, only to relax a moment later.

"Almost gave us a heart attack!" He hissed.

"Same" Moonstruck whispered, illuminating the tip of her horn with a pale silver glow as she walked towards them. "I get back and you're both gone! Almost lost it until I realized you'd probably gone exploring!"

"Lets get back to the room." Glenda murmured. "I need to take a break before we do anything else."

Moonstruck nodded, reared up to awkwardly turn around, then settled back onto all fours to lead the way back. Once inside they stood still to let Moonstruck magick away all the dust they'd accumulated from their excursion.

"Well, how'd it go?" She asked once they were settled on various pieces of furniture.

"Good. Very good." By the time he finished telling her what they'd discovered, Moonstruck was grinning from ear to ear.

hr

The next night they stood before the door. It was so painfully ordinary it seemed entirely out of place, and yet, there it was: a simple, mundane maintenance entrance. Maybe that's what all of the secret passageways were: maintenance corridors long forgotten.

Moonstruck cast her light spell and ramped it up to inspect the door physically before she investigated it arcanely. It was entirely possible that it had a physical alarm attached to it, something she couldn't disable easily.

"So... we can see the jewelry, but no one else can?" Glenda asked.

"Yeah, that was the trickiest spell." Moonstruck muttered as she ran her eyes over the door hinges. They were a little rusty but otherwise in good shape. "We can see each other even if we're invisible as well. Should make things a little less confusing when we're out and about."

"Cool." Joseph grunted.

They were wearing their newly enchanted jewelry. The necklaces were a combination voice activated teleporter, invisibility spell, silence bubble projector, communication node, and location beacon. They also each wore a clip-on earring to provide more discreet audio for the communication function. Moonstruck had never done such a complex enchantment by herself before, so this was a bit of a field test.

If there was a physical alarm, or alert system wired to the door, she couldn't tell from the outside, so she cast her anti-snooping spell. It didn't turn up anything, and neither did the spell that searched for magical tripwires.

"Anything?" Joseph asked.

"Nothing arcane." Moonstruck frowned. The likelihood of a physical alarm system was too high to open it. Unless... "Lemme see if I can feel this out..."

She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and let out a long breath, silencing her mind to reach out with her senses. Normally she would do this to search for spells or enchantments, or occasionally individuals, if they were strong enough magic users to cause ripples in the ambient magical field. Theoretically she could do it to find things on the material plane as well.

She did not let the physical world fall away, but held it in a half-formed state that made her more than a little queasy. She could feel the wood of the door quite readily; it still held an odd sort of memory of being a tree within it, and she latched on to that feeling, letting her mind roll across it and out to the stones that formed the door frame. Stones were harder to read, she discovered, though she didn't need to be able to read them so much as trace their presence. There did not seem to be anything running between the door and the frame, aside from the hinges, which were fairly ordinary as near as she could tell. Nor did there seem to be anything on the other side of the door, aside from the glowing moss that she now knew to be magical. The handle and lock seemed equally disconnected from anything that might cause problems.

Shaking her head, she let the world drift back to the way it should be, and fought back a wave of nausea as the queasiness decided to amp it up a notch. "I think we're good."

Joseph stepped over to the door, rested his hand on the handle, and gave it an experimental wiggle before turning it. Or attempting to, anyway.

"It's locked."

"Not a problem" Moonstruck pulled a bobby pin she kept in her pouch for just such occasions and stepped over to the handle. Luckily the lock wasn't rusty, so she set to work picking it.

"Done this before, have we?"

"A little." Moonstruck grinned. "Starshine used to stash her chocolate in a little box in her room."

"Couldn't you just get your own chocolate?" Joseph snorted.

"Of course, but it wasn't as fun that way."

"Starshine?" Glenda asked.

"My sister." The lock clicked open. "Nice."

She lifted her hoof and pulled the handle down before carefully pushing the door open with her other hoof. It did so with a low creaking groan. Moonstruck quickly canceled her light spell and stepped back from the door so as not to be silhouetted by the glowing moss.

For a few tense moments they stared into the tunnel beyond, waiting for something to move across the patches of glowing moss outside the door, but everything remained silent, and still. Exchanging glances, then looking around to check if anything in their passageway was moving when it shouldn't be, they cautiously stepped out into the tunnel. Moonstruck visually confirmed that there was a handle on this outside of the door before closing it behind them, and twisting it to make sure it was still unlocked.

They were almost giddy as they scurried down the tunnel, the same thought running through their heads: they could leave now, if they wanted. Just follow the tunnel to some sort of access way, climb out and take off. It'd be morning before anyone realized they were gone, and by then they'd be well into the mountains.

Moonstruck knew better though. She hadn't properly tested their gemstones yet; she didn't have any of her gear, nor anything for Glenda, much less food and water for the journey. She still had no idea what state the Roanamian military was in, nor if there truly was a shield around the whole country. Glenda might be up for getting through the mountains, but likely not for any pursuit they might draw if the enchantments failed. There was simply too much they had to prepare for.

But if everything went well, they could be out of here in a week. Two, tops. She grinned tightly and focused on the present, casting her gaze around the tunnel. It was a large storm drain, as near as she could tell. They were on a wide walkway that ran parallel to a channel carved into the natural stone of the valley, with bricks here and there to patch areas that had washed away at some point. The channel was empty now, though the tunnel was still moist, and the moss lush. There was an identical walkway on the other side of the channel, and the ceilings were a good ten feet high. Every hundred yards or so there were smaller channels that fed into the big one from holes in the tunnel walls. They had heavy steel grates over them, though she spotted quite a bit of rust on many of them, which made them likely candidates for a little demolition, however the smaller channels were too small for she and Joseph to wiggle through.

"Are we any closer to the distortion?" Moonstruck asked after they'd gone about a mile. There had to be another access way soon – it was impractical to space them out too far.

"Not really. I think it's over there somewhere." Joseph pointed off to the left. "The tunnel is curving away from it."

"Hmm."

"How far are we going to explore?" Glenda asked.

"Just until we find another maintenance door." Moonstruck grunted. "Once we do some scouting I might put a nodestone down here so we can just pop down whenever we want."

Glenda nodded.

Sure enough, a few minutes later they came upon a side tunnel that led to a spiral staircase. Moonstruck climbed it, finding a simple pony-hole cover at the top. It was late enough that she chanced lifting it up a tad to take a look at where they were.

"Well?" Joseph asked when she returned.

"It'll work in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend it for regular coming and going. Neighborhood's too nice." Moonstruck grunted.

The others looked a bit crestfallen.

"Don't worry, the city's in a poor state, probably the next one will be more useful." She started back out to the main tunnel.

"How much further should we explore?" Glenda asked.

"Good question." Moonstruck frowned, then dug the alarm clock from her room out of one of her saddle bags.

"It's just past midnight. We've already been gone two hours. It takes too long to get down here."

The others nodded.

"It's a good time to go exploring topside, but I dunno how far we have to walk to find another exit." She shook her head.

"And the further we go, the longer it'll take to get back." Joseph sighed.

"Yeah."

"Perhaps you should leave a nodestone here." Glenda scowled. "So that we can get down here faster."

Moonstruck wrinkled her nose. "I was thinking back at the door. There's still a chance there's some sort spell on the tower we might set off."

"Oh, right." She grimaced.

"Don't worry, we'll get this all worked out in the next couple of nights. We'll be out of here before you know it."

* * *

To anyone that might have been watching, the pony-hole cover shuddered then lifted smoothly out of its resting space to hover in mid-air for a solid minute before settling gently back to the ground. This theoretical watcher likely would have then proceeded to pour out whatever they had been drinking when the heavy iron disc had finished its feat of levitation.

Alas, no one had borne witness to this miracle; the streets were empty, the city all but silent in the balmy night air.

"I'm surprised it's still so warm." Joseph commented, keeping his voice low even though the enchantments made it so that no one could hear them.

"Yeah, it's usually decently cool by this point." Moonstruck turned around and stared up at the tower. She couldn't see the mountains from here, so the tower would have to serve as a landmark. Looked like the storm drains had dumped them off a couple miles north of the tower, a district she hadn't explored yet.

"It usually stays warm until a few hours before dawn near the solstice." Glenda muttered. She had her back hunched, and head held low, apparently unconvinced they were undetectable at the moment.

"Ugh." Joseph wrinkled his snout. "Does it cool off after that?"

"Not this low, I don't think. Higher up it stays about the same until fall."

"UGH!"

Moonstruck stared at the two of them, noting how their colors were distorted within their bubbles of various enchantments. They looked out of place, but it was a small price to pay for near complete stealth.

"Alright, I haven't explored this neighborhood yet." She said. "It's in the wrong direction, but if this is gonna be our main exit point, we should be able to find our way south on the ground first."

"Why?" Joseph furrowed his brow.

"We may need to go to ground." Glenda scowled.

Moonstruck blinked a few times, taken aback. "Yes, exactly! How did you...?"

Glenda shrugged. "I have not lived this long without being able to plan an escape."

"I usually just make it up as I go along." Joseph chuckled.

"You are the hunter, not the hunted." Glenda grinned wryly.

"True, true."

"Okay, lets get moving. We only have a couple of hours for this. And remember, no one can see or hear us, so if we run into some ponies you've gotta move for them, they ain't gonna move for you."

Moonstruck started off at a trot, heading east along the boulevard, trying to remember what sort of roundabout route she had to take to make it back to the more southerly neighborhoods. Joseph and Glenda fell into step behind her.

They did not chat as they went, focusing instead on taking in their surroundings. As they moved further into the slum, homeless ponies started to appear on sidewalks, many sleeping on piles of cardboard out in the open. It was warm enough tonight that nopony seemed inclined to start a fire.

"Why are they sleeping outside?" Joseph asked after a few blocks.

"They're homeless."

"Can they not sleep in the buildings?" Glenda asked.

"No." Moonstruck shook her head, then did her best to explain the situation – a rather difficult task considering both Glenda and Joseph lived in the wilderness, and could sleep pretty much wherever they wanted. They knew what shelter was, of course, and they had an understanding of ownership via territory, but _rent_ was a completely alien concept to them. As was the inability to simply pick up and move elsewhere.

"This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen." Joseph snorted after she finished explaining. Glenda nodded in agreement, scowling darkly.

"I know."

"Is it like this where you come from?" Glenda growled.

"No, we take care of our own."

She seemed only marginally reassured.

They continued on in silence, trotting through the empty streets, sometimes doubling back to get around some of those illogically placed buildings that blocked major thoroughfares. It took up most of their time to reach a district Moonstruck recognized, so she placed a nodestone in an alleyway to use it as a starting point for their next excursion.

For three nights they explored; splitting their time between finding useful places to exit the storm drains, and meandering the city. Moonstruck placed nodestones in strategic places, and showed the others how to jump between them. They would be exploring on their own soon; Lucena would likely demand her attention or company, and she would need to procure more funds to start putting together Glendas gear for the trip out of Roanamia. From what she'd seen during some late night window shopping, survival gear will be pricey, and she'd have to very carefully space out all of her purchases over several days, and several shops. That would probably screw up her initial timetable estimate, since she was never sure when, or if she'd be able to slip away during business hours.

It was so tempting to just _leave_! Their escape was so frustratingly close it was maddening to lay in contingency plans. If Glenda was up to flying long distances, they'd be out of here tomorrow, gear or no gear.

Unfortunately the solstice was three days away, and it was unlikely that they could slip away unnoticed just before such a big event. Moonstruck was mildly surprised they celebrated the solstice here, though it didn't seem to have anything to do with the Summer Sun ceremony. It was probably something left over from ancient times, when unicorns still banded together to raise the sun.

Speaking of, the sun would be coming up in just a couple of hours. Time for them to get back, and get some sleep.

"I think that's enough for the night." She yawned, as she came to a stop. Joseph and Glenda half turned to look at her.

"You're always so sleepy, for these things." Glenda grinned,

"That's because I'm livin' a double life here." Moonstruck chuckled.

"Yeah, guess we do mostly just loaf around the apartment all day." Joseph grinned as well, exchanging glances with Glenda.

"Should be sending you two out by yourselves while I get some sleep, since you're so full of energy." Moonstruck smirked, then spun around to head back the way they'd come.

" _Can_ we go out by ourselves now?" Joseph asked, falling into step beside her.

"You're gonna have to. The enchantments seem to be working well enough, and I've got other stuff I need to do while you're out scouting around."

"D-does this mean I can go with Joseph when he hunts?" Glenda asked, coming up on her other side.

Moonstruck frowned. "I think so. You're sure you've got the staff schedule down? No surprises?"

"Yup." Joseph nodded.

"Should be safe enough, if you watch the clock." She scowled. "Actually, lemme rig up a motion sensor for the suite tomorrow. If anypony enters the apartment when you're not there, it'll let you know, and you can teleport back."

The others agreed this was a good idea. Luckily, such a simple spell only required a focus point, so any old pebble would do. She'd probably put that piece of plain white quartz to good use, since it would resonate with the hub natively.

Once they reached the nodestone she'd left in a nearby alleyway between two dumpsters, they teleported back to the storm drain, just outside the door. From there they simply walked into the tower, closed and locked the door behind them, then teleported up to the secret passageway just outside their rooms. A quick de-dusting later, and they were getting ready for bed.


	20. Chapter 19

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

The day before the solstice, Moonstruck was awoken from a deep, dreamless sleep by someone banging on their door with a vengeance. She bolted upright in bed as the angriest aura she had ever encountered slammed in to her, and the door slammed to the ground out in the living room.

"OUTLANDER!? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!"

Moonstruck swore under her breath as she scrambled out of bed, and skidded across the floor to her partially open bedroom door, a strange mix of panic, fear and rage swirling through her body, in a torrent of adrenaline. This was it, they'd been found out, and now she had to take Lucena out long enough for them to escape–

Lucena stormed into her room, slamming the door into the wall, leaving a dent in the drywall, eyes practically glowing with unbridled fury. She pointed at the windows. "WELL!? WHAT IS IT!?"

Something. Was not. Right. Moonstruck hesitated, coming to a stop a little too close for comfort to the fuming queen. "P-pardon?"

Lucena snarled and yanked the curtains clean off the wall, the heavy rod let out a muffled clatter as it hit the floor. She gestured to the french doors. " _Look!_ "

Moonstruck looked. "The... sun is coming up soon?"

"IT'S ALMOST TEN."

Moonstruck took a small step back, then glanced around Lucena at Joseph, whom was standing in the doorway, head held low, wings arched over his back, hands clenching and un-clenching. He was growling, eyes locked on Lucena.

The queen followed her gaze, then sneered. "Don't even _try,_ abomination!"

"S-stand down, Swiftclaw." Moonstruck grimaced.

Joseph didn't budge.

"Stand. Down." She repeated more forcefully, attempting to catch his eye. _Don't mess this up, dude, don't mess this up..._

For a few tense moments he didn't move, then slowly, reluctantly, Joseph reigned himself in, settling his wings at his flanks and backing away, glancing back and forth between she and Lucena.

Lucena turned her gaze back to Moonstruck, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"My deepest apologies, Your Majesty, sometimes he's a little too good at his job." Moonstruck, ducked her head, then stepped over and opened the french doors. Once on the balcony, she looked around, still not seeing anything amiss. Her balcony faced west, and the sky beyond the distant, smog shrouded foothills was a deep, dark blue with the odd star – far fewer than she would normally be able to see from twenty stories up. The sky straight up was lighter, indicating that the sun was coming up, though if the queen was correct, it should have been up hours ago.

"Well?" Lucena growled, having followed her outside.

Moonstruck opened her mouth to reply, closed it again, looked back out over the city, looked up at the queen.

"I am... m-may I?" She gestured with one wing to the space over the rose gardens far below.

Lucena flicked her hand as if to send her away.

Swallowing hard, Moonstruck leaped up on to the balcony railing, fanned her wings, then lunged out into space. She flew away from the tower as quickly as she could, looking around to try to figure out what the problem was. The city seemed peaceful. Too peaceful, in fact; she saw no activity whatsoever. Not even flocks of pigeons were on the move. Reaching the outer edge of the tower grounds, she pulled into a hover, turned around and looked up. For once, the sight of the Eye glaring down at her didn't cause her to jump, for it had been quite outdone by what was happening in the sky beyond it.

" _Sweet baby Celestia..._ "

The sky was split in two. Impossibly the sun and moon hung close to each other in the sky, but there was no impending eclipse; one half was day, there was a small band of twilight, and the other was night. Moonstruck very nearly fell out of the sky, but managed to maintain her hover. What in blazes was going on out there!? Something had to have happened to both Celestia _and_ Luna for something like this!

She returned to her balcony at a complete loss, shaking her head.

"Four years ago, _almost to the day,_ the sun did not rise." Lucena pinned her with such an intense glare, Moonstruck was afraid she would be able to see right through every lie she'd ever told.

"What happened?"

"Wa- th- oh. Oh!" Moonstrucks mind was racing to come up with something both plausible and acceptable. "Ah, th-there was a cult that worshiped Princess Luna. One of its members managed to gain access to Princess Celestia, and slip her some sort of poison. Their reasoning was that once she was gone, Princess Luna could return from the moon. They uh, didn't – didn't do their research because it only put her to sleep for a short while. Alicorns have different tolerances and all that – as you well know."

Moonstruck didn't think it was possible for Lucena to scowl any harder, but the mare managed it.

"And what is it _this_ time?"

 _She can't seriously..._ "I-I have no idea! Everything was fine when I left Timberwisp!"

Lucena worked her jaw around, then suddenly looked away. "Make yourself presentable, we have a busy day ahead of us."

She turned to leave, then turned back, her scowl more quizzical.

"Did your wings grow?"

Moonstruck blinked a few times then looked back at them, opening them a bit. They did seem bigger, now that she was paying attention. A lot bigger.

"I... suppose so? I – er only sleep in this form to preserve energy, so I haven't been paying attention..."

Lucena gave her a decidedly suspicious look, then spun and left. She stomped past Joseph, walked across the door that was still lying on the floor, then out into the hall. As she strode out of sight, a harried guard scrambled past to keep up with her.

Moonstruck waited a solid ten seconds before sitting down and letting out a shaky breath. Inside, Joseph lifted the door and leaned it against the frame. He stepped out of sight for a minute or so, then reappeared with Glenda in tow. They joined her on the balcony.

"What's going on?" Glenda was shaking almost as bad as Moonstruck was.

"I don't know, something weird's going on in Equestria, and somehow the queen thought I'd know what's happening." Moonstruck shook her head, then climbed to her hooves. "I need to get ready."

"How do you know something strange is going on in Equestria?" Glenda furrowed her brow.

Moonstruck paused, unsure sure how to explain that there was, in fact, a pair of alicorns responsible for raising the sun and moon out there in the world somewhere, and they weren't currently doing their jobs. Glendas world was not controlled in any way shape or form.

"She said it was after, ten, right? Why isn't the sun up?" Joseph looked out over the city, tilting his head to the side.

"If you're feeling adventurous, fly out there and take a look." Moonstruck smirked.

He and Glenda exchanged glances, then activated their spells. Moonstruck wasn't wearing her necklace, so she couldn't see them fly off. About a minute later they reappeared on the balcony, both as pale as ghosts.

"What should we do?" Glenda asked, swallowing hard.

"You hang out here and guard the apartment. Joseph, I'm guessing you're gonna get your hunting privileges limited or revoked, so you might want to go hunt while you can."

"I don't like leaving Glenda here by herself with the door busted." Joseph growled.

"Neither do I, but it's probably better that you make yourself scarce today." Moonstruck shook her head. "Besides, they'll probably fix the door."

She stumbled back into her room, then across it to the bathroom to get cleaned up. There was a massive mirror near the tub and she shuffled to it to take a look at her wings before she got ready. She really hadn't been paying attention! Her wingspan had more than doubled in the time she'd been in Roanamia, and she was fairly certain she was a bit taller now as well. When folded, her wrists reached just past her first set of shoulders, and her primaries stretched to just past her tail. Last she knew, her wrists had just reached the back portion of her front shoulder blades, and her primaries hit the middle of her cutie mark.

She opened them again, and tried to wiggle her wing fingers, but found she couldn't. In fact... she couldn't feel much of anything past the first finger, as if...

"It's... all feathers." She stared at her open wings in the mirror. She could splay the feathers easily enough, but the jointed bone fingers running through the first four digits were gone, it was just keratin feather shafts now.

"What did I do to myself...?" She wondered aloud. Bird wings, bone white mane and tail, flags on her legs, and, now that she was paying attention, some dappling of darker gray fur across her back.

Shaking herself, she turned and marched back to the sink. She didn't have time to puzzle this out now. She could still fly, that's all that mattered. Fifteen minutes later Moonstruck was ready. An aide came for her a few minutes after that. Said aide informed her that they'd send someone up about the door as soon as possible.

They hurried down to a vast hangar, where what had to be the queens personal chariot was ready and waiting with a team of eight jet black pegasus stallions standing at the ready. Moonstruck had only gotten glimpses of pegasus on her excursions into the city – mostly when she spotted them pulling carriages overhead. It was difficult to tell their condition. Logically speaking, they couldn't do their jobs if they were in poor shape, so they had to at least be eating decently.

These stallions certainly fit that description; if she'd encountered them in Trot she'd say they were professional athletes or dancers with their lean builds and prominent muscles rippling beneath their glossy coats. Here it was likely the lack of body fat had less to do with keeping themselves trim for their chosen sport, and more with their food ration being on the slim side. It turned her stomach.

The chariot was large enough to carry several ponies, and lacquered a deep black. It was covered in intricate carvings of roses, which were all painted blood red. A pair of green eyes with slitted pupils glared out from the rose carvings at the front of the chariot, and the side guards were in the shape of dragon wings. The tack the pegasus wore was surprisingly subdued, as it was black as well, though, as she drew closer, she could see roses embroidered in red thread here and there.

"Wait here, your grace." The aide said when they were about ten feet from the back of the chariot. He bowed, then spun smartly before marching away.

Moonstruck let out a long sigh and spun around to take in the rest of the hangar. It seemed like ponies were making it a point to look busy, though there didn't actually seem to be much going on. Lucena was striding across the hangar floor in a flowing black dress with a long train, attended to by two unicorn mares in tower livery.

She threw a glance at Moonstrucks dress – which was a subdued charcoal affair with minimal ruffles, but a lot of skirt – and nodded slightly in approval. Moonstruck would have preferred to wear one of the lighter colored dresses she'd been supplied, since it was still rather warm outside even with the sky split in two, but sensed that something more drab would go over better.

"Come, Maximus will meet us there." Lucena grumbled as she stepped onto the chariot and picked up the reigns. "The lout fell asleep in his office aboard the _Enforcer_ , apparently. It's docked north of the city."

Moonstruck nodded the puppets head and climbed onto the chariot after the queen. No sooner had she settled herself did Lucena flick the reigns to set the pegasus off at a trot, then a full gallop. Moonstruck lifted a brow as the chariot lurched sluggishly into motion, only reluctantly building up speed. If she was not mistaken, eight pegasus should be able to get a chariot of this size airborne without any difficulty at all, but it seemed these stallions needed the full length of the hangar to take off. As they neared the edge of the runway, Moonstruck was a little worried that they _wouldn't_ take off, but the chariot did indeed glide smoothly out into space behind the team.

But there was something strange about it, she couldn't shake the feeling that the chariot was very slowly sinking as the pegasus banked to circle around the tower. The feeling lessened as they got up to speed, but it seemed like the fliers had to work much harder than they should. As they reached the north side of the tower, a squadron of those little flying machines fell into formation around them.

"Oh, and Eira will be joining us as well." Lucena said abruptly.

"Where are we going, if I may ask?"

"To The Round. This can only be an ill omen. I believe a divination is in order."

Moonstruck nodded and cast her gaze over the city, spotting motion in the more affluent neighborhoods as Bridle-Durs upper crust began to mobilize. Their destination seemed to be a cross between a temple and a coliseum sitting out in what was likely an island in an oxbow lake at some point. Now that portion of the river bed was dry, and it looked like it was one of the few low lying areas that didn't have a slum built up in it.

As they drew closer she saw that there was a vast landing field out front where most air traffic was headed. Or was, until everyone spotted the queen; chariots were rapidly pulling up to circle respectfully. Nopony wanted to land before the queen got there.

Lucena brought the team in steep, sweeping them into a tight circle to hit the landing field at a brutal seventy five degree angle. Moonstruck braced for impact, but the pegasus managed to wrench the chariot up enough to avoid crashing into the pavers. They went barreling along a few feet above the ground instead, finally settling to the ground some three hundred yards beyond where they'd first come down. Moonstruck frowned, but kept the puppets face neutral. Absurd approach aside, they should have been able to stop much sooner than that. Something very odd was going on here.

As soon as the queen set hoof off the chariot, a Round attendant in a gray and white uniform rushed up to move the chariot off the runway. The honor guard landed their flying machines and formed up around the queen, as several more attendants, and a very stressed looking yellow unicorn mare in long black robes galloped up.

She slid to a stop and dropped into a low bow. "Your Majesty, preparations are almost ready."

"Good. Eira and my son are still on their way, so you have time." Lucena strode towards the temple, Moonstruck, the honor guard, and the robed mare falling into step around her.

"What know ye so far?"

"Thaumic readings are coming back normal." The mare said. "However, the shield slows most large arcane disturbances, so that may change given more time."

Lucena nodded. "Of course."

"Kyrenai is overseeing the prism reading as we speak, and she should be able to tell us something by the time we reach your viewing quarters."

"Good. Oh, Duchess Angelina, this is High Priestess Citrina."

"Well met, Your Grace." The priestess dipped her head respectfully.

"Well met." Moonstruck inclined her head politely. She shifted her gaze upwards to take in the high gothic arches that separated the landing field from the temple grounds. The building beyond it was also in the gothic style, though it had more than a few columns that seemed out of place, and only a few flying buttresses. They felt like they were afterthoughts.

"I trust you can light candles?" Lucena glanced her way.

"Of course."

"Good. With Maximus dragging his hooves, you'll have to do. The candles only respond to alicorn magic."

"Anything to help." Moonstruck made the puppet smile sweetly. It seemed Lucena was not holding a grudge today, or possibly she'd realized that there was no way for Moonstruck to know what was going on and she'd acted rashly earlier by breaking down the door. Or perhaps the prince not being where he was supposed to be was enough to overshadow Moonstrucks imagined misstep. Probably the last one.

Other elites began landing as they mounted the steps to the temple, each flying in alone or in pairs in pegasus drawn chariots. They did not immediately rush up to the temple, but milled around by the arches as more and more nobility landed. Moonstruck couldn't think of a reason why, other than giving the queen a healthy head start. That was probably a pretty good reason; everypony had to walk on eggshells around her on a good day, today was probably a day to give her as much space as possible.

Moonstruck certainly wished she could go back to her room, and leave the queen to her divination. She knew it was pointless; only a darn good oracle could figure out what was going on out in the rest of the world, there was no way reading tea leaves or something would work. Especially since Roanamia didn't even have tea leaves to read.

The magical detection equipment was probably much more reliable, though she had her doubts about it being able to detect anything out of the ordinary, unless something exceedingly powerful happened. Nothing magical had to have happened to Celestia and Luna for the sky to be split like this; they could both be ill, (she couldn't imagine raising the sun or moon with bad food poisoning), there could be some issue that has distracted them enough to neglect their duties, a meteor could have crashed into Canterlot – all sorts of things.

Once inside the temple, Lucena led her down a long, lofty hall of stained glass windows (which were indeed impressive) to an equally airy corridor. She gestured to the right.

"You go that way, Citrina can show you where the candles are."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Moonstruck bowed slightly, then let the brightly colored unicorn lead her in the indicated direction. It was considerably darker in here, as there were no windows, but Moonstruck could still make out strange shapes in the darkness.

"So, you managed to breach the shield." Citrina said as they walked. "On your left."

"So I have been told." Moonstruck could just make out the shape of a tall candle tucked into an oval alcove. A quick magical probe didn't reveal anything remarkable about it. She lit it with a standard spark spell without any difficulties, bowing slightly to bring the puppets horn within range of the candle, and channeling her magic up through it.

"Huh. Takes the prince a couple of tries to do that." Citrina furrowed her brow, frowning slightly, the expression making her look strangely old in the flickering candlelight.

"Perhaps spark spells aren't his forte?" Moonstruck hazarded.

"He is a powerful fire magic user." Citrina straightened up. "A spark is beneath him."

 _He should still be able to do it._ Hung heavily in the air, waiting to be said. Neither of them gave voice to the thought.

"Moving on." Citrina cleared her throat and marched further up the hall.

The candles were spaced every ten feet on alternating sides of the hall. The strange shapes Moonstruck had noticed earlier were intricate carvings of dragons adorning the walls and pillars, most of them quite gruesome. Nothing at all like Joseph with his sleek, avian build, or cute little Spike with his baby pudge and bright purple scales. More like the monstrous dragons she'd slain, but with some truly bizarre anatomical features. Extra wings in odd places, many extra arms or legs, oodles of tails, and more spines than you could shake a stick at. The candlelight made them writhe uncomfortably, and their multifaceted emerald eyes reflected the light like cats eyes in the dark. She was hard pressed to keep her focus forward, as the furtive movement in her peripheral vision made her inclined to glance around for whatever was slinking along beside her. This place must be involved with the dragon cult she was briefed about months ago.

There were one hundred and fifty candles in the curving hallway, and heavy wood doors every twenty five yards or so. Lucena came into view as Moonstruck lit a candle. She was lighting the candles from the other direction with flicks of her hands, little sparks arcing out from her fingers. Moonstruck rolled her eyes at herself – she should have thought of that.

They met by the final door, Lucena staring past her at the line of candles.

"Good." She nodded. "This way. We must light the censors in the arena as well."

Moonstruck nodded, following the queen through the last door, down a short hallway illuminated by natural light at its far end, then out on to a low balcony that overlooked the arena. There were three such balconies, one above, one below; and each almost completely encircled the stage below. The censors hung every twenty feet around each level. They split up again to light the censors. As before, Moonstruck could not find anything about them that would require alicorn magic to light. She channeled the magic through the puppet hands, this time.

Down in the arena, black robed ponies circled in intricate patterns with incense and burning sage, spiraling around a raised dais made of what she assumed was jade with an obsidian band down the middle. If she was not mistaken, the slit seemed to be something of a cleft in the jade, with the obsidian forming the floor of a narrow channel which ran out to connect to a smaller trough carved into the stones that formed the border of the jade eye. She was also fairly certain she'd caught glimpses of drains within the smaller trough.

She hoped they didn't use this for animal sacrifices. Especially now. She did not want to have to sit through some poor sheep or goat being ritually slaughtered and gutted to read its entrails. Hopefully it was something more symbolic that maybe involved spilling wine or something.

Finishing up her half, Lucena met her on the opposite side of the arena from where they started, then sent her down to the lowest level while she took care of the top. Once Moonstruck was done, she was met by a cloaked and hooded priestess who took her up to the third level, where Lucenas VIP box was. Maximus was there, staring flatly at his mother as she scolded him for falling asleep on his airship, and arriving late. Moonstruck exchanged glances with the priestess as they approached the open door. She opted to wait outside, even though she could hear everything quite clearly.

"Really, you're so _lazy_ sometimes! Would it really kill you to return to the tower after work?"

"It was quite late, and I was quite tired, so yes. It could have."

"You actually fly home _yourself_? That's what servants are for! Why do I even bother supplying you with the latest shuttle craft, or a fast pegasus team if you never use them? I should take them away, you're so ungrateful. Perhaps Angelina would like her own vehicles!"

Moonstruck grimaced. Was this why the queen seemed okay with her most of the time? She could use her as a sort of leverage against her son... whom she already had control over...

"Perhaps she would."

"Augh! You are hopeless! I do so much for you and you just throw it in my face! Nothing I do is ever good enough for you, is it!"

Moonstruck half turned as she heard someone coming down the hallway that led to the VIP box. Eira stepped into view a beat later, smiling warmly at her, the expression faltering as she heard the conversation emanating from the room beyond. Moonstruck grimaced at her and shifted her weight awkwardly.

"Mother, please don't start that..."

"I give you everything, I teach you all I know, I make sure you have power and prestige, and this is how you repay me!?"

"I was just on the other side of town, Mother."

"That's not the point!"

"I'm often away for weeks at a time on assignments that _you_ give me."

"That's different, you're enforcing my will!"

"How long have they been at it?" Eira whispered, sidling closer.

"I'm not sure, I haven't been out here long." Moonstruck shook her head.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Er, the prince fell asleep on his airship last night instead of coming home, and the queen is not happy about it." Moonstruck frowned.

Eira let out a long sigh. "It's probably the split sky. She's stressed about it."

"Yes, she woke me up this morning and demanded I explain what was going on. How am I supposed to know that?" Moonstruck huffed, crossing the puppets arms over its chest. "I've been here for over a month – and mostly in my chambers!"

It was Eira's turn to grimace, and she did so with a low chuckle. "Did she break your door down?"

"YES."

"Eh heh, she does that sometimes."

Hoof falls in the hallway drew their attention to Kyrenai whom was plodding her way towards them. She paused and listened for a few seconds, then let out a very long, grumbling sigh.

"Seriously?"

"I am afraid so." Eira frowned.

Rolling her eyes, and muttering something under her breath, she marched past them into the VIP box.

"We're ready. The prism readings are inconclusive. It's also almost noon – not that you can tell. If we're going to do this, it needs to be now." Kyrenais voice cut through the argument like a knife.

"Well at least _someone_ around here can do her job!" The queen huffed. "Thank you, Kyrenai."

Sensing that it was safe, Eira poked her head around Moonstruck to look into the room. "Sorry it took so long!"

"Ah! Eira! You're right on time. Did you see – oh good, Duchess Angelina is with you. Come, come, we're about to begin." Lucena cheerily waved them into the booth as if the argument had never happened.

For the queen it was as if it had never happened. The prince was appropriately sour, though he seemed relieved to be shoved to the background for the time being. Moonstruck was largely ignored as well, which suited her just fine. Moonstruck took her seat near the railing of the balcony, and stared down at the arena below. The lower balconies had been filled with Bridle-Dur's elite, and guards lined the perimeter of the arena. A cloaked and hooded pony she assumed was Citrina stood on the jade dais, staring up at the VIP box.

Lucena finished up her conversation with Eira then turned to address the crowd.

"This," she pointed to the split sky, "is an ill omen if ever I saw one!"

Nervous laughter echoed around the arena.

"We live in strange times now, my ponies. Though the shield protects us from harm, some things are beyond even its ability to control. The goddesses of the sun and moon have forsaken us this day, and left us in a most ominous twilight. But we are not powerless! We shall now determine the nature of this celestial event, so that we may learn and prepare for what is to come!"

The crowd cheered. Moonstruck could see a bit of motion in the corridor directly across from the VIP box on the ground floor that she guessed led somewhere deeper in the temple.

"For such a portentous omen, we must use our most powerful divination! Let us see what the future holds!"

The crowd settled into a loaded silence. Moonstruck had a sinking suspicion a goat was about to meet a grizzly end.

Four acolytes moved out of the tunnel, levitating something draped in a black and red cloth between them. She leaned the puppet forward to try to make out the silhouette of the object but all she could tell was that it likely had four legs. Whether they were living legs, or table legs she could not say.

Citrina stepped aside as they approached the dais. The robed ponies spread out to take position at each compass point as they lowered their burden in the center of the jade and obsidian eye. The arena grew maddeningly still. Citrina pulled the cloth away.

Moonstruck had already surmised that it was not a table, but nor was it a goat. She almost threw up in her mouth a little as a bound and gagged palomino unicorn mare stared blearily up at Citrina, then around at the gathered dignitaries, and finally the queen.

 _You have got to be kidding me..._

Moonstruck glanced back and forth at the others in the box, too rattled to play it cool. Lucena was too interested in the sacrifice that was about to take place to notice. Eira was grim, Kyrenais expression was completely unreadable, and the prince's face was equally blank, though he gripped the balcony railing tightly.

Moonstruck stared back down at the pony lying on her side on the dais, her eyes now wide with terror as she seemed to have realized what was going on. Citrina had produced a book, and was reading something from it in a low chant, a knife floated next to her, its keen edge glinting ominously in the unnatural twilight.

 _This is going to hurt._ Was all Moonstruck could articulate to herself as she quickly sent out a ping to Josephs node crystal – he had taken her advice and was indeed outside the city. Perfect. Hastily she began setting up spells. Complex spells; a few spells she hadn't even attempted yet, but the words and runes and magic came to her in a rush of some long ago memory of a class, or her mothers tutoring, or her fathers magical tinkering, or perhaps even the universe itself. They were all layering on top of one another in her minds eye, linked by a jagged line of a bit of magic her father had been working on before he died that would allow her to set everything off in a chain reaction. If she was going to pull this off, she'd need to do it all nearly simultaneously, and some of it would need to function on its own for a little while.

Once she was as ready as she could be given the exceedingly tight time frame, she focused her attention on the ponies in the arena. The absolute maximum amount of time the puppet could look after itself would be thirty seconds. It was going to be a rough thirty seconds. Sure that Citrina still had a fair bit of mumbo jumbo to rattle off, Moonstruck set everything in motion.

First she teleported down to the platform in stealth mode. Glancing back, she confirmed that the puppet was still paying rapt attention to the goings on in the arena. Then she made a copy of the palomino unicorn, held the image in her minds eye, then replaced her with a solid illusion that she programmed to tremble and whimper in terror. Sure that it would do its job for now, she activated Josephs nodestone to teleport she and the unicorn to him.

In an instant they were well outside the city in the eastern foothills. Joseph jumped back in surprise, a little bit of blood dripping from his jaws. Under normal circumstances Moonstruck would be squeamish about a freshly slain sheep, but today it was quite the welcome sight.

"That simplifies things!" She magicked off the unicorns bindings and placed them in the corresponding places on the sheep carcass, then cast an illusion over it so that it looked like the unicorn. "Could you hide her or something? Also, I need this."

She teleported herself and the sheep back to the arena, replaced the solid illusion with the incognito carcass, then teleported back under the puppet and took control, heart racing in her chest and a sickly feeling building up between her ears. No one seemed to have noticed her little switcheroo. She braced herself as Citrina raised the knife, and she was overwhelmed with a feeling akin to the ocean receding before a tsunami.

As the chant reached its crescendo, Citrina brought the knife down on the sheeps' throat, slicing neatly through the already mangled flesh. Moonstruck swallowed hard as she felt the wave of pain rushing towards her, creeping lightly up her spine with cold, tingly fingers, then slamming into the back of her head with the force of a hurricane. Her stomach turned with it, twisting itself into impossible knots as Citrina moved to the carcasses belly and drove the knife in to it to make a long, clumsy incision that spilled the animals guts across the platform.

If Moonstruck hadn't already been ill, she certainly would have been at the sight of the exposed, bloody entrails. Joseph somehow managed to be much neater about his kills. She couldn't fight back a choking cough. Gritting her teeth, she fought to maintain character as her stomach insisted on emptying itself – even though she hadn't eaten since last night.

"E-excuse me!" She croaked, getting up, spinning dizzily, then hurrying back through the halls to where she recalled seeing a bathroom.

* * *

As Moonstruck made an offering to the porcelain god, Joseph stared at the little unicorn, confusion and irritation vying for dominance in his head. That was his lunch Moonstruck had just made off with!

"A-am I dead?" The unicorn asked breathlessly, staring wide eyed up at him from where she was lying in the dry, trampled grass.

"Probably not." Joseph grunted.

"Then how did I...?" She carefully stood, shaking her head. "I – one second I was... they were going to... and then I was here?"

Joseph furrowed his brow. "What were they going to do?"

She pulled her ears back and ducked her head, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Joseph realized her cheeks were already damp from crying. "Sacrifice. I was... I was to be sacrificed. The queen does her divination with pony sacrifices."

Joseph felt his blood run cold. Things clicked in his head and he let out a heavy sigh.

"Okay, I think I know what happened."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Do you have a place you can go?"

"Wait, you're not gonna tell me!?" The unicorn wiped the tears from her eyes with her knees.

"Well, it's kinda classified, plus you had to have seen who rescued you." Joseph shifted his weight, then absently licked the blood from his jaws.

"No! I didn't see anyone! I was just _here_ all of the sudden!"

Joseph opened his mouth to reply, then rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course she was invisible. She couldn't make off with a sacrificial pony while everyone was watching if she wasn't."

"She?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. Do you have a place you can hide?"

"Wait... was that – did she _teleport_ us!?" The unicorn gaped at him.

"Yes." Joseph had a sinking suspicion he'd already said too much. "Look, that was my lunch she just stole, so I need to go hunting again."

"She can teleport, and go invisible and – how did she get away with taking me? Wouldn't they have noticed that?" The unicorn stepped closer to him.

Joseph took a step back. "She probably cast an illusion... which is probably why she took my lunch now that I think about it. I don't think she's very good at solid illusions. Anyway... you can find your way home from here right?"

"Illusions!?" The unicorn squeaked, a manic note creeping into her voice. She shook her head, let out a breath then settled herself. "Sorry, I've just never heard of anyone that powerful before – pretty much only the queen can do any of that."

"That's not real surprising, from what I've heard."

"Anyway, I can't go back – I can't go anywhere. Security is tightest at city borders, and without any sort of travel papers I can't get in anywhere. I'm supposed to be dead, anyway, so that'll cause some problems." She shrugged and looked away.

Joseph grimaced. There'd be big problems for the three of them if a publicly executed pony turned up alive and well, and the only pony capable of setting her free was Moonstruck. He growled softly to himself. There was no way for her to survive out here on her own. He could probably sneak her back into the city, but then what? It wasn't like she could walk back into her old life and expect everything to go back to normal. She'd need to go in to hiding, figure out a new identity, find some way to move through the city unnoticed...

He frowned at his next thought. It was a supremely stupid idea. Really, it was so absurd it seemed more like one of Mooneys ideas than his own. The frown turned into a scowl. Mooney had stupid ideas, but they ended up working out. He glanced back down at the little unicorn. It was a gamble. A big gamble. But it might be her only real chance.

* * *

Moonstruck leaned her head against the wall, eyes closed, enjoying the slight relief the cool ceramic tiles brought to her throbbing temples. Thankfully the VIP bathroom was a single user affair, so she could puke her guts up in peace and private (and luxury), without trying to maintain any of her spells. The puppet was discarded on the floor where she'd dropped it; an absurd tangle of odds and ends in a fancy dress sprawled out across the marble floor. She knew she couldn't hide out in here for long. Someone else might need the bathroom, and she'd need to get back out there and finish up whatever else the queen expected her to do today.

 _The pony is safe._ She reminded herself for the umpteenth time. It was the only thing keeping her from passing out. She'd managed to pull off quite the hat trick. Hopefully the spells held, so they didn't discover their sacrificial lamb was _literally_ a lamb when they did their exam.

She smiled faintly to herself when she realized the irony of the situation; before she'd been afraid they were going to sacrifice an animal, and she went and provided them with a carcass to dissect. Of course, the sheep hadn't originally been killed as a sacrifice, that was Josephs meal.

She owed Joseph lunch, now that she thought about it. Did he like pie? Would he be okay with pie? Maybe when they got out of here they could hit a griffon run restaurant or something. Actually, Griffonstone wasn't terribly far out of the way, maybe he'd be up for a side trip. She had no idea what the food was like in Griffonstone though. Trot City apparently had one of the best fish restaurants around down in the Griffon District. She didn't eat fish herself so she couldn't vouch for it personally, but it was held in high regard by griffon travel magazines. Somehow she didn't think she could talk him into going all the way to Trot with her just to have a nice fish dinner.

A soft knock on the door pulled her out of her meandering thoughts.

"Angelina? Are you okay?" Came Eiras muffled voice.

Moonstruck was mildly relieved it was Eira, and not the queen.

"Recovering." She croaked, her voice hoarse from vomiting. She reluctantly pushed herself off the wall to stagger over to the sink. Quiet time was over.

"I take it you don't have pony sacrifices in the outside world..."

"Er... they fell out of fashion quite some time ago." Moonstruck _very_ reluctantly reared up onto her hind legs to turn the sink on with one hoof. She looked like warmed over kitty litter, which was about half as bad as she felt. She splashed her face off.

"Oh dear. I suppose it can be quite a shock, if you've never seen it before!"

That was an understatement. Moonstruck rolled her eyes, then took a sip of water straight from the faucet. She gargled with it, then spit it out.

"Would you like some seltzer water and a mint?" Eira asked.

"Yes, please." Moonstruck shut off the water, then dried her face and hooves on a plush towel. Sighing she sank back to all fours, then turned around to stare at the puppet. Her head was still killing her – it would likely do so until she could get some sleep. She couldn't go out there like this though.

After a few minutes of slow, careful spell casting, she looked in the mirror through the tunnel of her scrying spell once more. The illusion was too pristine, so she tweaked it to mirror how bad she looked at the moment. For some reason that made her feel a little better. Prepared to spend a few more hours like this, but hoping they'd send her back to her room, she stepped over to the door, unlocked it, and flicked the light off as she slinked through.

Eira was waiting a polite distance away with a tray; on it was a glass of gently fizzing water, and a small tin of mints. She grimaced when she set eyes on Moonstruck.

"Oh my, it was really quite a shock, wasn't it?"

Moonstruck nodded the puppets head, and gratefully took the proffered glass of seltzer water. She switched the glass out for an illusion so that she could actually take a sip from it. The carbonation did wonders to settle her stomach, though not surprisingly her head still throbbed. Taking a longer pull, she drained half the glass, then switched it back before setting it down on the tray, and selecting a mint out of the tin. She switched it too, though she thankfully didn't have to switch it back. Eira didn't seem to notice a thing.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I don't understand how everything could be fine with the sky split like this!"

They turned as the queen marched down the hall towards them, hands in the air as she gesticulated irately.

"That's how the entrails read." Kyrenai growled, sulking along beside her. "The prism didn't turn up anything conclusive, and we're still waiting on the thaumic readings. Whatever's going on out there isn't serious."

"Impossible!" The queen huffed.

"Short of dropping the shield and going to find out for yourself, that's all we've got." Kyrenai snapped.

The queen let out a growl of her own, then caught sight of Moonstruck. "You look horrendous!"

"Ah, it seems they no longer do pony sacrifices out in the rest of the world." Eira supplied.

Lucena snorted contemptuously. "Figures." She waved dismissively. "Go ahead and go back to the tower if you wish. I'm going to wait for the thaumic readings."

"Come along, Angelina. I took a shuttle over, so there's plenty of room for you to lie down in the back." Eira said, then hesitated. "If that's alright with you, Lucy?"

"Yes yes, just be back quickly. That lout left already." Lucena snarled, glaring in the direction of the VIP box.

"Of course." Eira sketched a short bow, then started off down the hall. Moonstruck bowed as well, then followed the frosty unicorn.

She only half remembered walking through the temple, as the strain of maintaining active spells added a layer of intense dizziness to her discomfort. The world spun slowly this way, then drifted that way, and the carvings of dragons in the flickering candle light twisted into new shapes, and even stranger beasts and monsters. Somehow she made it down to Eiras shuttle, and got herself settled in the back, propped up awkwardly in a corner as there was no lying down with the puppet on her back.

"I don't suppose you saw where Maximus went?" Eira asked once they were on their way.

"No, I was rather focused on other things." Moonstruck said softly, and kept the illusions eyes closed so that she could cancel her scrying spell for a little while.

Eira chuckled.

"You don't... get to spend much time with him, do you?" She asked after a short pause.

Moonstruck scowled with her actual face. Eira wasn't jealous, was she? She was in no mood to deal with somepony who thought she was a romantic rival.

"Not much."

Another pause, longer this time. And then... "Do you have someone back home? A suitor, I mean."

Moonstruck fought back the urge to let out an obnoxious sigh and decided to just lie instead.

"In a manner. He's not the sort you take home to mother." She made the puppet smile faintly.

Eira chuckled again, sounding relieved. "Oh good, I was worried I'd have to make an enemy of you!"

She'd said it jokingly, but Moonstruck had no doubt she was dead serious. Thankfully Eira seemed disinclined to converse once her position of possible love interest for the prince - and therefore eventual queen - was secure once more.

Moonstruck jolted awake as the shuttle landed, surprised that she'd managed to doze off for a few minutes while still maintaining her spells.

"I'd walk you up, but I really must be getting back. We radioed ahead for someone from the tower staff to help you to your chambers." Eira said as Moonstruck reluctantly pushed herself out of the corner. "I do hope you feel better!"

"That will be fine, thank you." Moonstruck shakily stood, and wobbled over to the now open door of the shuttle, and the ramp beyond it. A familiar orange and purple unicorn stallion stood at the bottom of the ramp, staring up at her with an intense frown.

She stumbled down the ramp, then across the hangar floor, making a b-line for the elevators, her vision swimming in and out of focus, and the scrying spell dimming ominously.

"Would you like us to send for a pram?" The stallion asked as he attempted to walk beside her.

"A what?"

"A – ah, stretcher, I think it's called sometimes."

The stretcher would have been perfect if she could actually lie down on it. "It's alright, I think I can make it."

"As you wish, Your Grace."

The dizziness was edging towards vertigo as they reached the elevators, and the air pressure changes as they ascended floors caused some amazing sinus pressure to add to her headache. Moonstruck was amazed that she was able to maintain her spells at all as she stumbled her way along to her door – which had already been repaired, she was glad to note.

"Do you require extra assistance?" The stallion asked as she clumsily unlocked the door.

"My maid can help from here on, thank you." She pushed the door open and stepped through. Closing it behind her, she reached back and locked it, then immediately began canceling her spells.

"Back already?"

"Ugh, you would not believe how Lucena does her divination." Moonstruck groaned as she let the puppet slide off her back. She didn't let it go entirely, since she still needed to put it away. She kept her eyes mostly closed as she dragged it along beside her.

"Um, Mooney..." Joseph said hesitantly.

"Pony sacrifices – pony sacrifices!? Of all the bass akwards divination techniques to adopt, it had to be _that_ one!" Moonstruck swayed and stumbled into the coffee table. Righting herself, she continued on to her door. "You hid the unicorn somewhere, right?"

"Yes, that's what I need to -"

"Good. You would not believe what I had to do to get her out – well you would. Don't lemme forget I owe you lunch. Egad my head is killing me..."

"MOONEY!" Glenda barked in her most authoritative Grandma Voice.

Moonstruck stopped just past her door frame and turned around to look at the elderly pegasus, entirely out of reflex. Then her heart stopped.

Joseph was perched on an ottoman, tea for three was occupying the coffee table, Glenda was on one end of the sofa, and the palomino unicorn was on the other, mouth hanging open, and eyes wide with shock.

Somehow her head managed to hurt more. "You brought her _here!?_ "

"Where else was I supposed to take her!?" Joseph yelped, shrugging helplessly.

"Not here!" Moonstruck leaned heavily against the door frame, and massaged her temples with her front hooves. "Anywhere but here! What if Lucena comes barging in again!?"

"She's been with you all day! Besides, I can't just let her out in the city, she's supposed to be dead!" Joseph argued. "She needs a way to sneak around unnoticed!"

Moonstruck knew where he was going with this. "I can't. Not now. I'm not even sure how I managed to keep the puppet going to get back."

"Maybe in the morning?" Glenda asked.

"Maybe! But she can't stay! The longer she's here, the more likely she is to be discovered." This could not be happening, could it? Maybe she was hallucinating on the bathroom floor back at the Round.

"I – I will probably be okay in the slums for a little while." The unicorn said hesitantly. "Some neighborhoods aren't patrolled much."

"I guess we could meet up with you somewhere." Joseph offered.

"You guys work that out, I'm gonna go lie down before I puke again." Moonstruck pushed herself back to a standing position, picked up the puppet by the dress collar, and closed her door. They'd repaired her curtain rod, but left the curtains open. The sky was still split, so it was still comfortably dark in her room. Depositing the puppet in her wardrobe. She dragged herself over to her big bed, crawled on top, flopped, and immediately dropped into a deep sleep.

* * *

They stared at Moonstrucks closed door for a few moments.

"She looked horrible." Glenda frowned. "That must have taken a lot out of her."

"Yeah. I didn't think about that." Joseph scowled, scratched his chin, and glared at the closed door. Then he shifted his gaze to Lindsey. The unicorn was still staring at the door like she'd just seen a ghost.

"So, what neighborhoods were you thinking of?"

She blinked a few times then looked at him. "Oh, uh... probably Dirtton or Rose Lake. Maybe Cypress Downs."

"We have nodestones to Rose Lake, but it's too early to use them." Glenda noted, then she scowled out the windows. "Unless everyone's hiding."

"It's not busy out there, but there's ponies out and about." Joseph shook his head. "We'll have to go down through the storm drains."

Lindsey perked up. "You can get to the storm drains from here?"

"Yeah."

"That's perfect! A lot of us use the drains to get around when patrols are heavy!"

"Really?" Joseph hadn't noticed any evidence of ponies around the waterways they used, but they didn't stray far from the tower when under ground. It was entirely possible that ponies simply gave the tower a wide berth. He certainly would, if he were in their situation.

"Yeah! It's a lot faster in some neighborhoods."

"Are you sure you can remain hidden for a few days?" Glenda asked.

"Yes. I'm a dud – no one really pays attention to duds." Lindsey hopped down off the sofa and stretched. "We can usually move around without anyone caring."

"A dud?" Joseph furrowed his brow.

"Duds are unicorns who can't use magic. We're basically just Earth ponies with horns, but without the strength." She made a sour face.

"Any idea why that is?" Joseph had a hunch this little tidbit of information would be useful to Moonstruck.

"All anyone can figure is that it has something to do with the shield." She shrugged.

"How can anyone tell by looking?" Glenda squinted at the unicorn, trying to spot the differences.

"Size, horn size and shape, and coat color." Lindsey looked back at herself. "We're usually smaller, with shorter, blunter horns, and more - I guess - natural coats. No purples or yellows or oranges or anything."

Moonstruck would definitely be interested to hear this, Joseph knew.

"You two should get going." Glenda stood and stepped off the sofa. "I'd send you off with a snack, but they don't like us stashing food around the apartment."

"It's alright. Thank you for your hospitality." Lindsey giggled, then sobered and looked at Moonstrucks closed door. "And... thank... thank her for me."

"Will do." Joseph saluted. He reached over and picked her up – she really was small – then gave the command to teleport them down to the access door. Normally they wouldn't teleport from the room itself, but he was hesitant to reveal the secret passageways to her. They had to keep _some_ secrets.

"Ack!" Lindsey wiggled out of his grip. "I will never get used to that!"

"Yeah, it still kinda weirds me out." Joseph shook off a bit of lingering static. He opened the door and gestured for her to precede him. She cautiously stepped out into the storm drain. He walked out, turned around, and closed the door behind him.

"So... your, um... alicorn friend. She's uh... not evil."

"Nope." Joseph grunted. They started off at a leisurely walk.

"Any particular reason why she's here?"

"Yep."

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"Nope!" He grinned at her, and made it a point to make it disturbing, leaning his snout in close to her to make sure she got a very good look at his teeth.

"And you're not gonna say a peep about this, right?"

"Of course not!" Lindsey pulled her ears back and edged away from him.

"Good. So, where's a good time and place to meet up for magical things?"

"Uh... good question." Lindsey scowled,. "Do you know where the Broken Barrel tavern is?"

"Nope."

"How about the Jolly Rodriguez?"

"Not a clue."

"Uh..."

"Maybe somewhere, you know, underground?" Joseph suggested.

"I'm just using them as landmarks for storm drain intersections." She shrugged.

"Oh." Joseph mulled over the bits of the storm drains he knew. "How about over under, what is that... Roanoke Street and 12th Avenue?"

"Oh no, that's way too close to the tower!" Lindsey shook her head.

"Where do you think we just came from?" Joseph said dryly.

"Heh heh, right. Sorry, force of habit. We don't usually go any closer than fifteen blocks." She thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, that should work. When?"

Joseph let out a breath. Moonstruck may or may not recover in a couple of days, but she also might be called away for something. She could enchant that last earring ahead of time, but she'd need Lindsey to finish for voice samples to complete all of the spells.

"I don't know. Her schedule is, um... kind of unpredictable."

"I'd imagine so."

"Alright, lets shoot for midnight four days from now. Can you stay hidden that long?"

"Yup. What do I do if you don't show?"

"Try again the next night, I guess."

"Really?" She frowned.

"It's the best I can promise." Joseph shrugged.

Lindsey sighed. "Alright, I can keep coming for a few nights after that. I suppose I won't have anything better to do, anyway."

"That's the spirit!" Joseph quipped.

Lindsey rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing softly.

* * *

A/N: Moonstruck sure pukes a lot in this.


	21. Chapter 20

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Aside from being awoken by Glenda to eat something around dinnertime, Moonstruck slept solidly until the next morning. Joseph roused her for breakfast – curiously he used the same method that Windwake often did the odd times she was needed urgently while sleeping; he hopped up on the bed and bounced until she woke up. Of course, Windwake never chanted _Glenda says you need to eat_ when he did it.

She dragged herself out of her room a few minutes later, no longer in pain, but still incredibly tired. She selected a bowl of porridge off the tray, then plopped herself down at the coffee table before carefully pouring herself a cup of tea.

"This came for you last night." Joseph grunted around a prickly pear. He handed her an envelope with the queens seal on it.

Moonstruck very cautiously used magic to open it and unfold the message inside. It only caused minor pain to fare up. This was a good sign. She flicked her eyes over the letter, then set it aside. "The solstice party has been rescheduled to tonight."

The others grunted. Things had gone back to normal late yesterday. Moonstruck had only been awake around six for about an hour, but by that point the sun was where it should be, and it seemed to have risen today on schedule.

Originally the party was going to start at midnight, and go until dawn this morning, with festivals going on all day out in the city; but with the split sky no one was sure what in blazes the next few days would be like. Things going back to normal relatively quickly meant the only thing that was thrown off was the nighttime royal party.

She'd skip the party if she could, but she knew the queen expected her to be there no matter what. Thankfully she should be up to at least making an appearance. With luck she could spend most of the day asleep, or just puttering around the apartment.

She was most of the way through her porridge when Joseph suddenly jerked his head up.

"Oh yeah, Lindsey told us something kinda interesting last night."

"Lindsey?"

"The unicorn."

"Ah. Never got her name."

"Right. Anyway..." He told her about the duds, the magicless unicorns. When he finished, Moonstruck was staring wide eyed into space as several things clicked in her head.

" _Of course_!" She hissed, getting up to pace back and forth some of the fatigue burning away as she did so. " _Of course_ it's the shield! That explains so much! The missing and scrambled cutie marks, the lax security, my wings, the drought, pegasus ponies in general..."

"What about pegasus ponies?" Glenda asked warningly.

"You don't look like pegasus ponies outside the shield." Moonstruck paused to look at her. "In fact, you're quite different. The shape of your head is different, your wings are much, much larger, and you eat meat. Pegasus out there look, well no different from unicorns or earth ponies, aside from their wings. And they're all herbivores like every other pony. And I think I know why, now."

"What's wrong with the way we look!?"

"Nothing! It's actually pretty amazing!" Moonstruck shook her head. "You've simply adapted to a low magic environment – and in a pretty small time frame. Usually changes like this would take thousands - if not _millions_ of years!"

"I think you might want to start from the beginning there." Joseph sighed.

"Right, you guys aren't in here." She pointed at her own head with one hoof, then went back to pacing. "Basically, it's all the shield – there's probably something wrong with the spell. Usually shield spells are meant to physically keep something in or out, and reflect or absorb magical attacks. But this shield isn't doing that, you can walk through it."

"Once you figure out how." Joseph added.

"Getting to that." Moonstruck nodded. "They're also very temporary. All shields need a power source. It can be a single pony, or a group working together. All unicorns have a personal reserve of magic, which they use to fuel their spells, and shields are no different. If they run out, the spells will fail, and they can't cast any more until they've had time to recharge. Magic is everywhere, it's what makes the world work, we all absorb it naturally from the environment."

"Okay, but how does that explain the missing cutie marks, and duds and all that?" Joseph asked.

"And what about pegasus and earth ponies? We don't use magic." Glenda furrowed her brow.

"Ah! _You_ don't. Or you don't use very much, but pegasus on the outside _do._ Their bodies are too heavy, and their wings are too small to fly without magic!" Moonstruck grinned. "An earth ponies strength is magical in nature as well. They're both innate abilities. A unicorns innate ability is magic manipulation."

She stopped again to stare out the windows at the distant, hazy silhouette of the western mountains. "Anyway, the shield over Roanamia is weird for two reasons. One: it isn't physically keeping anypony out _._ It's just so huge, and so powerful that it warps time and space around it – which is why everything is so screwed up in the areas immediately around where the edges of the shield fall. It doesn't really _need_ to keep ponies from coming or going because the distortion accomplishes the same goal, for the most part."

Moonstruck turned back to the others. "Two: it's impossible for a single alicorn to keep a shield this size going for any amount of time, much less a thousand years. It _must_ have a separate power source, and I'd bet bits to donuts that it's drawing magic out of Roanamia itself."

"You said the crystals down in the mine were leeching power off of you..." Joseph murmured, eyes wide.

"Yep. I bet the edge of the shield falls right across there. It's probably why we lost our powers for a while."

"Okay, so with less magic ponies have to adapt." Joseph leaned back a little and crossed his arms over his chest... throat... region. "Pegasus grow larger wings. Unicorns lose some abilities, and earth ponies?"

"Have probably been effected too." Moonstruck nodded.

"You said... we have adapted to a low magic environment..." Glenda said hesitantly.

"Yes. As your inherent pegasus magic was drained away, your bodies had to adapt to flying with less and less magic, and as a response, each generation of pegasus born under the shield had larger and larger wings. There's probably a bunch of other anatomical stuff that's different that you can't tell just by looking." Moonstruck vaguely recalled that Sarahs medical report noted she had hollow bones.

"Cutie marks started to disappear too. Or rather, failed to manifest. Cutie mark magic isn't well understood, but it's pretty powerful – that probably took a long time to siphon off. The only younger pony I've seen with a cutie mark of any sort is Eira. The rest are middle aged at the youngest, and all of them are unicorns."

"The drought is a side effect." Joseph blurted. She could practically see him put pieces together. "As magic drains away, they have to rely on naturally occurring storms, but with air and ocean currents all screwed up by the magical distortion at the edges of the shield, storms would become less and less frequent."

"With the waning magic, pegasus ponies would be less and less able to control the weather." Moonstruck added. "And Lucena might even have barred them from doing it while they still could since she seems to have some sort of vendetta against them."

"Right."

"And they use fossil fuels here, which pollute a ton."

"Which makes it hotter."

"Basically, at this rate Roanamia probably won't last another ten years – if that." Moonstruck concluded.

" _Pegasus ponies on the outside can control the weather?_ " Glenda gaped at her.

"Yes, of course!" Moonstruck chuckled. "It's your other innate ability!"

Glenda opened and closed her mouth several times, apparently unable to formulate a response.

"Hmm, I bet Sarah's well enough to fly by now. I wonder if they have her kickin' clouds." Moonstruck mused. "That must be a blast, getting to do that for the first time when you didn't know you could."

"If she can at all." Joseph pointed out.

"We'll find out." Moonstruck shrugged. "Anyway, I figure security is so lax because whatever spells they cast on things just aren't working anymore. Either nopony realizes they don't work, or they're afraid of what Lucena might do if she finds out they're not working, so they just pretend they're enchanting whatever needs to be enchanted."

"Wait, Lucena cast the spell, and has been here the entire time, shouldn't she be out of power?" Joseph lifted his head a little.

"I... don't know." Moonstruck frowned. "Theoretically she should be getting low at the very least. Alicorns have very deep wellsprings of personal reserves, but we still need to recharge like anypony else. And she's been under the shield, probably using that stupid transformation spell – which I'm sure is a costly spell to maintain."

"And what about you? Using too much magic hurts you, and your wings have grown so much... does that mean your body is adapting?" Glenda frowned as well.

"I think the headaches are because I can't recharge externally, but I should be alright." Moonstruck shook her head. "I haven't been under the shield long enough to put a significant dent in my personal reserves, and we're getting out of here soon. They'll probably stop once we're out."

"The wings _are_ weird." She admitted, looking back at them. The spell she'd cast back in the crystal mines was a temporary magical extension. There wasn't anything about it that could cause this, unless her loss of control, or the crystals siphoning off her power triggered her body to go into some sort of rapid adaptation mode.

There was a knock at the door. Glenda started then bolted off the sofa and to the door, as Moonstruck scrambled over to sit _on_ the sofa. She hastily shook her mane out as the pegasus opened the door a crack.

"Yes?" Glenda asked demurely.

"A message for Her Grace." Said the staffer on the other side of the door. Thankfully she made no effort to look in the room. "Her Royal Majesty Queen Lucena requests the Duchesses presence at lunch. We will send someone to collect her at noon."

"Thank you, I will inform her." Glenda nodded humbly. She shut the door as the messenger left.

"Oh goodie." Moonstruck groaned, slipping into a deep slouch.

"Didn't think you'd be able to escape for long." Joseph chuckled and picked up his cup of tea-like product.

"Was hoping she'd forget about me for a while." She grumbled.

"That was probably yesterday afternoon." Glenda snorted, sauntering back to the sofa.

"Probably." Moonstruck agreed sourly. She reluctantly slid off the sofa. "Guess I should go take a bath and stuff."

She had plenty of time to get ready, as it was only just after seven, but she wanted to give herself enough time to dry as she could, and limit her use of magic for as long as possible. Unlike last time, she didn't have the luxury of a somewhat leisurely recovery; she'd need to be back at it before noon.

So she took a long soak in the tub to mull over the shield business, then she lounged on the terrace to dry in the warm morning air, and tried not to sleep too deeply. Around eleven she cast her drying spell to finish everything off before getting ready. A single spell here and there caused a little pain, but the array of spells she used to control the puppet brought a steady downpour of discomfort.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Well, it's about time you showed up!" The queen huffed as Moonstruck stepped into the solar. Eira was already there, her expression mostly neutral, though there was a bit of strain showing around her eyes.

Moonstruck hesitated. "Am I late?"

"By twenty minutes!" Lucena clucked her tongue reproachfully.

Moonstruck was pretty sure her escort came for her at precisely noon, which was presumably when Lucena had said to fetch her, so it was impossible to be twenty minutes late. Unless this was some sort of strange game, or the elevator had a pocket dimension with a time distortion in it.

"Am I? Oh dear, I am so sorry, Your Majesty! Perhaps I'm still thrown off from yesterday, what with the sun and moon being so off course." She continued into the solar, ducking the puppet head sheepishly.

Lucenas expression softened. "It was rather disorienting, wasn't it?"

"Quite. What were the results of the thaumic readings?" Moonstruck sensed she was in the clear for now.

Lucena pulled her ears back and stared sourly at the wall. "Inconclusive. Took all day to get that reading."

"It's a small price to pay for our safety, I suppose." Eira frowned and shook her head. "At least things seemed to have been resolved."

"Yes." Lucena muttered.

Moonstruck sat down at the empty third space and scanned the table in front of her. Looked like lunch hadn't been served yet. Eira poured her a cup of tea-like-product and slid it over.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better." She said.

"Thank you, and thank you." Moonstruck made the puppet smile as she accepted the cup, wrapping the puppet hands around it as if to warm them.

"I still haven't seen Maximus. He disappeared immediately after the divination." Lucena growled. "I don't know what to do with that colt."

"Did he not have affairs to attend to?" Eira asked hesitantly.

"I _suppose_. There was a bit of panic in other regions, he probably went to deal with that." Lucena snorted, waving a hand dismissively. "He'd better show up for the party tonight."

"He will. He never misses the solstice parties." Eira nodded enthusiastically. "Solstice parties are the best parties.

"They are aren't they?" Lucena grinned.

Lunch was brought in. An array of roasted root vegetables and salad greens were placed on the table along with bowls of lentil soup, and oat bread. This time the food was pretty good, though everything had a thin, watery flavor to it that Moonstruck suspected had to do with the prolonged drought. They were probably exhausting their soil as well as their water supply, and the air pollution probably wasn't helping either. She wasn't sure how magical depletion would effect plants, since most of the things they ate weren't magical in nature.

"Oh! I just remembered! Angelina, you can read tarot cards!" Lucena blurted after a few minutes of idle chatter and munching.

"Would you like another reading?" Moonstruck chuckled.

"I would!" Lucena beamed. "Perhaps your mastery of the cards can do something our divination cannot."

"Oooo! Me too!" Eira giggled. "I haven't had my fortune told in eons!"

Moonstruck giggled as well. "Okay!"

"After lunch, of course." Lucena dipped her head.

"Of course." Moonstruck and Eira echoed.

"We're really in a bind here without any oracles." Lucena sighed. "Is House Chronos still cloistered away on Mt. Everhoof?"

Moonstruck was a little taken aback by the question. She was very glad she was hidden under a poofy dress, as she'd lost her poker face for a moment – at least, on her actual face. She honestly didn't know where most of House Chronos was; they still maintained their shrine on Mt. Everhoof, but all of the alicorns in the family had dropped off the map some time ago. Her mother was likely the last active oracle in Equestria, and she'd disappeared as well.

"Last I knew. They only pop out every once and a while to warn us of some large natural disaster or something."

"Hmph."

After they finished lunch, and had it cleared from the table, Lucena retrieved her deck of tarot cards from one of the many book shelves lining the walls that were not tinted glass. Moonstruck gave them a quick shuffle before handing them back to Lucena to shuffle more thoroughly.

"Now, remember, I can't read anything that isn't directly connected to you." Moonstruck said, adjusting the way she was sitting. Eira sipped her tea-like product and watched with great interest. "I shall start with a simple three card spread, then we can change it up to glean more insight."

Lucena nodded. She finished shuffling, then handed the deck back to Moonstruck. She pulled the first three cards off the top of the deck and laid them out face down in between she and Lucena.

"Which would you like to see first?"

"This one." Lucena tapped the center card.

Moonstruck flipped it over. The center card was a rather fascinating card, all things considered.

"The Tree of Life, inverted, in the present space." Moonstruck mused aloud. "In this orientation it signifies that something is dramatically out of balance."

Lucena nodded egarly, then tapped the card to the right of center. "Now this one."

Moonstruck flipped it over, and paused, unsure if she should give an accurate answer or not.

"Death!?" Lucena recoiled, leaning away from the table.

"Death usually means change, or transformation." Moonstruck quickly reassured. "With things in turmoil, Death could signify a new balance, or era. After all, an old era must end before a new may start."

Lucena nodded, but eyed the cards suspiciously.

"We will draw more cards to get some clarification, but first lets see what the past has to tell us." Moonstruck flipped over the third card.

"The Forest, inverted." Moonstruck scowled down at the cards. She was not a tarot expert, but this seemed to be the most clear and concise reading she'd ever seen.

"Well?"

"When inverted the Forest is a sign of decay. I think we shall need more cards." She placed a card above the center card face up, mind whirling. This could be about what had happened yesterday, and it could be about Lucena specifically.

"The Scales. Judgment to be passed."

She selected another card, and placed it below the present space. "The Hero; the harbinger of change."

"Yes, yes, things are out of balance. What about the future!?"

Moonstruck selected another card and laid it on top of the third space face up. The Prince of Crows. She swallowed hard. She knew this was all a bunch of malarkey but things were shaping up a bit ominously now. And she was going to have to get a little creative about the Prince of Crows for, within the context of the rest of the cards, it very strongly implied that Lucenas era was the one that was ending. Which it _was_ , but she didn't want the cards to ruin the surprise.

"Ah, this is more positive." She nodded, going with a more obscure reading of the card. "The Prince of Crows usually signifies something gained – like finding a lost treasure, or a good harvest."

The queen leaned back, apparently satisfied. "So, there has been great turmoil in the world, but we will come out on top."

"It looks that way, yes." Moonstruck made the puppet smile sweetly.

"My turn! My turn!" Eira bounced in her seat a little.

Moonstruck gathered up the deck into a neat stack, then slid it over to Eira to shuffle. She did so with great enthusiasm, and fairly skilled telekenisis. Once she was satisfied, she slid it back.

Moonstruck pulled the first three cards off the deck and laid them between she and Eira. The frosty mare scowled down at them.

"Lets go in order this time."

Moonstruck nodded and flipped over the first card, which represented the past. "The Cider Barrel, inverted. In this position it speaks of an emptiness."

"Go on." Eira urged, biting her lip a little.

"The lovers, inverted. Hmmm, internal conflict and contradiction." Moonstruck flipped the third card over. "The Queen of Diamonds." _She'll beat you if she's able_ , Moonstruck added silently to herself. "Power, ambition."

"Well, that's rather disjointed!" Eira laughed nervously.

"What are you planning up there, Eira?" The queen asked. She was grinning, but it didn't reach her eyes - not that her smiles ever did.

"No worries, there are always more cards!" Moonstruck chirped. She placed a card face up above the present space. "The Gilded Cups. Wealth, prosperity, and prestige."

She drew another card, wondering what strange phenomenon was causing tarot to actually be fairly accurate. "The brace of daggers, inverted. Deception and cunning."

"So... nothing about finding love, then?" Eira squeaked.

"Well, you could read it that way, I suppose." Moonstruck chuckled. "It really depends on what question you asked. Though sometimes the cards like to hit you with something you need to deal with instead of answering your question."

"Maybe that's enough for now." Eira gently pushed the cards back towards Moonstruck. "Maybe you should go next."

"Oh! Yes, I'd love to see what the cards have in store for you!" Lucena grinned that disturbing grin again. It was absolutely predatory, even without sharp teeth. Moonstruck marveled at how Lucena could make herself more intimidating than Joseph, who was an _actual_ predator.

"Alright!" She beamed, and pulled the cards towards her. She shuffled them quickly but thoroughly, cut the deck, then pulled three cards off the top of, placing them in front of herself face down. She did not have a question in mind. She flipped over the "past" card.

"The Tree of Life, inverted." She flipped over the "present" card. "Death."

Moonstruck stared hard at the cards. She had told Lucena the usual meaning of a right-side up Death, but the queens card had actually been inverted, which meant she was _resisting_ a change. Not to mention it had been in the future spot, not the present. The Death that was staring back at her was right side up, which was the transformative meaning.

"How interesting! You have two of the same cards as Lucy!" Eira mused.

"Yes, very." Lucena said cooly.

Moonstruck swallowed hard and flipped over the last card. "Discord?"

They all stared at the card. Of all the tarot cards, Discord was the most straightforward: chaos, no matter the orientation. It was also the newest in the traditional Tarot deck, bringing the total number of cards up to 74. Naturally it was added after Discord was defeated, as his effect on the world was so profound it was deemed appropriate to add him to the major arcana.

"So... your world was out of balance, but you're undergoing a transformation, and your future is... chaos?" Eira hazarded.

"Apparently!" Moonstruck scratched the back of the puppets head with one hand. "I think I'm going to need more cards!"

The others chuckled as she drew another card, and placed it face up above the center position. "The Wizard. Power, skill, magic, resourcefulness."

She drew another card. "The Queen of Hearts." _Is always your best friend._ "Friendship, effort and victory."

She drew one more card and dropped it face up partially on top of Discord. "The Shadow, inverted. Freedom, reclaimed power."

"I have no idea what to make of those future cards." Moonstruck said after a brief silence.

"Chaos, freedom and reclaimed power." Eira repeated.

"Very strange." Lucena agreed. "Perhaps the cards are tired?"

"Likely so. They do have limits." Moonstruck gave her an innocent smile and gathered up the cards. She handed them to Lucena, who placed them aside.

They moved along to regular playing cards for a few rounds of poker. After about an hour Lucena summoned Kyrenai up so that they could play bridge. Moonstruck had never seen a pony so quietly enraged to be dragged into a card game, though she assumed the wizard had been busy with something important.

Thankfully Lucena was much better at bridge than poker, so the game was fairly entertaining. They ended up playing until half past four, when Lucena declared sullenly that she needed to finish final preparations for the party and sent them all away. It was hard to tell who was the most relieved; Moonstruck or Kyrenai.

An escort was waiting for Moonstruck as she stepped out the solar door. Kyrenai brushed past her and stomped off down the corridor in the opposite direction of the elevators without looking back.

Although her headache didn't increase the few hours she was with the queen, it did not improve either. Moonstruck was all too happy to down a bit of willow bark tea and crash for a while once she was back in her suite. Joseph and Glenda were both out as well – probably off hunting – leaving the little apartment quiet and calm. While she certainly enjoyed having their friendly presence in the other room, it was also nice to have the place to herself for a little while.

* * *

Glenda hadn't felt this excited, nor conflicted, in quite some time. On the one hoof she was finally, _finally_ in the air again, winging invisibly after Joseph as they made their way out of the city for a hunt. All of the little aches and pains, and strains of being cooped up in a cramped apartment all of this time were an oddly welcome array of sensations after so much lazing around. On the other hoof, it was completely nerve wracking to be out in the open in broad daylight. She knew no one could see her but the dragon, but it was hard to fight the instinct to seek cover among the buildings below, out of sight of the Eye, and any patrols buzzing around.

A third hoof was to be considered as well; seeing the city from the air in full sun was heartbreaking. Somehow she'd always pictured Bridle-Dur to be a dark and twisted tangle of evil, full of cruel unicorns and their pegasus and earth pony slaves toiling away in a dark cloud of misery. Not this sprawling, overgrown and rundown warren of tired desperation. Moonstruck was not exaggerating when she'd said much of the city was like the neighborhoods they have been exploring at night.

There were complex machinations at work here, Glenda knew. An evil that somehow managed to be more sinister than the queen in her lofty tower and more devastating than her most powerful spells. It was... how did Moonstruck describe it? _Plain old greed and corruption._ Neither of those were exactly plain for Glenda, but she understood what the alicorn meant. It was ponies not caring for one another. Life in the mountains was brutal, territories and resources were fiercely defended, but there were certain lines that no one would cross, things they simply wouldn't do to one another no matter how desperate the situation. There was no such honor here. Not among the ruling unicorns.

She was very glad to leave the city behind and cross over into the rolling hills outside town. She had a vague, passing temptation to fly away, but she knew she wouldn't last three days in the mountains in her current state. There really wasn't any going back – even if she had a clan to go back to. She couldn't stomach the thought of them all dying of thirst or starvation, but she knew the clan would disband if they couldn't find enough food and water for everyone. Moving in smaller bands was usually a better strategy when conditions were this bad, and they'd likely scattered far and wide.

"I wonder if the clan ever decided to go up into the distorted areas." She mused aloud as she drifted closer to Joseph. The heavy patrols around the edge of the city were far behind them now; only the eye could still see Joseph – if it saw anything at all. Glenda was unconvinced the eye was useless, as Moonstruck suspected.

"No tellin'. I certainly haven't seen any pegasus out here the few weeks I've been hunting." Joseph said, slowing slightly to allow her to fall into formation beside and a little behind him.

"No one's hunted down here for years. It's too dry, and the sheep are watched too closely." Or at least, they were, last she knew.

"Ah."

"Back when the prince was hunting us he'd leave troughs of water out as well. No one was ever sure if it was for the sheep, or to give us more incentive to come down out of the higher mountains." Glenda wrinkled her snout.

"Ick."

"Although... I think he wasn't as bad as the ones before." Glenda furrowed her brow, trying to remember. "They were just as likely to kill us as capture us. And the new one is no better. I'm still amazed Moonstruck was able to talk her way out of that."

"Being an alicorn has its perks, apparently." Joseph quipped.

Glenda grinned.

They fell silent as they crossed over what would have been a shallow river valley, if the river was still running. Now it was just a few scraggly pale green bushes growing along a track of stone and sand. Nothing moved in the dead and dying trees down below, but Joseph swept into a shallow dive anyway. Glenda followed him down, more than a little curious to see what he was up to.

Landing on a boulder that would have overlooked the water, he folded his wings and stared at the bushes around him.

"I'm surprised you've been able to find much of anything out here." Glenda commented as she settled behind him.

He grunted before hopping off the boulder and padding across the sand to the bushes on the opposite side of the bed. Glenda followed him, her curiosity piqued as he began sniffing around the roots of the bushes. Amazingly there were tracks in the shade, although they were not fresh. He couldn't possibly be able to smell the sheep still, could he?

The dragon stretched tall and inspected the branches of the bushes. Glenda shifted her gaze upwards as well. Sure enough, she could see where the sheep had nibbled. There was no new growth, so it was difficult to discern how long ago they were here.

"Trails cold, but there's a cave system about ten miles up river." Joseph muttered after a few minutes of climbing around the dying shrubbery. "It's pretty shallow, but there might be water in there."

Glenda blinked a few times, taken aback. "The sheep are in the caves?"

"No. At least, not often. It's the only possible water source I've found, and the sheep seem to forage in one place for two or three days at a time." He gestured upwards at the nibbled on branches.

"These bushes haven't put any new growth out, and the only greenery left is out of reach for them. The tracks are maybe four days old. I bet they moved up river, towards the caves."

"You're making me feel like a filly out on her first hunt." She grumbled.

Joseph grinned. "From a species standpoint, your kind hasn't been hunting for as long as mine."

Glenda chuckled and rolled her eyes. He was right, of course. But she wasn't about to let him know that.

"Watch it, youngster"

"Youngster? I'm older than you!" He teased, grinning as he padded back out into the center of the riverbed.

"But I've lived more than you." Glenda eyed him sharply, fighting back a smile.

"Hmmm, you might have me on that one. Don't get that many wrinkles without some hard living – ack!"

He lunged into the air as Glenda chomped at his tail, barking laughter. She took wing a few moments later with a hop, skip, and finally a jump. Take-off and landing were the most difficult parts for her, but she was confident she'd be back up to speed soon.

They cruised along above the riverbed, following it higher into the hills, and more rugged terrain. If the river were running this area would be largely inaccessible to land-bound animals. She had vague memories of venturing down through these narrow canyons in her youth in search of fish, or the strange little ducks that liked to live in these fast moving waters. She never had much luck with the ducks, but fish were easy to snatch out of the air during their fall spawning runs. From the portal of the present she was a little amazed that she'd been so reckless to venture so close to Bridle-Dur when hunting and foraging was still fairly good deeper in the mountains.

It made her feel old. She didn't generally like feeling old. _Wise_ was one thing; old was just... old. Tired. Or maybe being tired made her feel old. Reflecting on her reckless youth certainly made her feel tired. So much wasted energy. Energy she should have been using to try to find a way out. She'd long suspected there was a way out. She'd seen Josephs kind before, though not Joseph himself, she was fairly certain. Those few who had seen the strange little dragons that occasionally turned up at the lower edges of the distorted areas suspected they could come and go from Roanamia, but no one had ever thought to follow one to find out. It was entirely too risky; if they were wrong they could easily become impossibly lost up in the highest reaches of the range. If the dragon noticed them they might well become dinner.

At least she was following one now.

Joseph dipped down again a few miles upstream to investigate another tangle of dying bushes. Here he grumbled softly to himself as he sniffed around in the patchy shade. Even without his powerful nose, Glenda could see the plants hadn't been disturbed in some time, and there were no tracks in the sun baked earth. Indeed, the bushes looked as though they would dry out completely soon, and were almost bare of leaves.

It was lonely without the river. The wind moaned softly through the canyon, kicking up a little sand, and rustling the parched branches of the few shrubs that still clung to life. It brought no coolness, only seemed to snatch away what little moisture still lingered. She watched a few dry leaves tumble lazily past as Joseph finished up his investigation.

They were off again a few moments later, on to the next tangle of bushes. The higher they went, the drier it got. Glenda knew this river hadn't had water in it since before the winter rains tapered off. It was one of the first victims of the drought, even though it had been one of the more dangerous rivers long ago. She wondered if it would ever run again.

They landed again near what she recalled had been a steep waterfall, and here was where the caves had once lain hidden beneath the crashing water.

"This explains quite a bit!" Glenda whispered even though any potential sheep could not hear her as she was still wearing her enchantments.

"Oh?" Joseph asked as he sniffed around the sharp rocks at the base of the cliff face, and below the caves.

"There used to be deep pools above that even the river ducks wouldn't fish in." Glenda inclined her snout to the cliff above. "We'd always assumed the current was too strong and unpredictable, but if these connect to the pools above, it was because the water was going into the caves, as well as over the cliffs."

"Yeah, that woulda been a rough ride for a little bird." Joseph agreed. "They've been here recently, but they're not in there now."

Glenda sighed. This was the sort of hunting she was all too used to; endless searching with little to show for it. They took flight again, fluttering up the cliff face, and then soaring low over the deep well that formed the formerly deceptive pools above the waterfall. There were indeed gaps in the rock that led down into the caves, several of them just large enough to drag an unsuspecting pony to its doom, if ever anyone had ever been foolish enough to go for a swim here. Now, she suspected, the sheep used them as a way to reach the upper portion of the riverbed.

Although the canyon walls remained steep and foreboding, the canyon itself began to widen, leaving space on either side of the river for stands of dead trees. She remembered this had been a particularly dense stretch of forest, where branches stretched across the riverbed to all but hide it from view.

As they rounded a bend in the canyon, Joseph swore and dipped into a steep dive. Glenda stooped after him, fear coursing through her veins as she did her best to mach his speed. The dragon landed in a clearing in the dead forest and waited for her to swoop in behind him before trotting off the way they'd been flying.

"What did you see!?" She hissed, scrambling to catch up.

"Pegasus, I think. Looks like they got a sheep." He muttered.

Glenda paused, alarmed by the thought of anyone coming down so far to hunt. Shaking herself, she cantered after him, then clambered up a jumble of boulders the dragon was scaling effortlessly. He slowed as he neared the top, and carefully edged his head beyond the last boulder to take a look. Glenda was a tad annoyed that she was too short to get a good view, then remembered she was invisible at the moment. She hopped onto an adjacent boulder and squinted into the near distance.

There were four pegasus in the woods beyond, two mares, and two painfully small foals. The mares were ravenously devouring a slain sheep, while the foals nipped at scraps and chased each other through the dust. While they were large enough to toddle around, Glenda knew they were still too small to eat most plants, much less meat. The mares were too thin to be lactating anymore.

She closed her eyes and swore softly. She'd seen this scene play out far too many times before; the sheep was probably too little too late. Unless the mares could find a steady food source within a few days, they'd have to abandon their foals.

"Three foals." She said softly to herself, turning around and opening her eyes again to climb back down the rocks.

"I count two." Joseph grunted.

"No. Three foals I had to abandon to the summer sun." Glenda sighed.

Joseph jerked his head back in shock, then peeked over the rock again.

"Right." He grunted after a moment, catching on.

Glenda waited at the bottom for the dragon to climb down. He seemed reluctant to leave, even though there was nothing he could do. He finally joined her after a few minutes.

"Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for. You know how the wild world works. You've likely gained a meal off that very act." Glenda shook her head. "We've had to live by natures law for a thousand years. If nothing else, we're tougher for it."

He nodded grimly. "Probably shouldn't tell Mooney about that."

"No, she needs to focus on the mission." Glenda agreed. "Once we can get outside help, this -" she flicked a wing indicating the sad scene behind them - "will be a thing of the past."

"Good to see you have your eye on the prize." Joseph grunted as they took wing once more, heading back the way they'd come.

She shrugged. "It's like I said, we've been living by natures law for a thousand years. Sacrifices have to be made. None of us would have survived for very long if we'd let sentimentality rule our decision making. Not all foals are going to make it. That's it. Plain as day."

She shook her head. "If I want as many foals as possible to survive, that cursed shield _must_ come down. I never would have imagined it before you two showed up but now..."

"Glenda: clan elder, mother, grandmother and freedom fighter." Joseph grinned at her.

"Clan leader once, as well." She snorted.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I'm retired now, of course. Are we heading back?"

"Yeah. If they got a sheep the rest of the herd is long gone. Maybe scattered. Might try again in a few days." Joseph shrugged. "Sorry you didn't get a fresh meal."

"It's alright, it feels good to be flying again. And I'm more concerned with you, since you don't normally eat many plants." She poked at him with a front hoof, though he was well out of reach.

"Eh, I'll be alright. I had some rabbit a few days ago."

* * *

Moonstruck dragged herself across the great hall as the sun set, wearily avoiding party-goers but greeting them warmly whenever they stopped her to say hello. Although sleeping through most of the afternoon had helped, being back in the puppet again so soon was already taking its toll. Or maybe it was the thought that'd she'd have to keep this up all night that was making her head throb. Or maybe it was the stress of the previous days events that made these parties – and this one in particular – simply nauseating to attend.

Despite the festive atmosphere, it was a joyless affair. Ponies mingled as they normally would, but there was a nervous undertone to everything; even Bridle-Durs elite couldn't quite ignore what had happened yesterday and carry on as if nothing was wrong. They gathered in small clusters between the flowing red and orange silks hung on spindly wrought iron frames, talking softly among themselves, or whispering in corners. Smiles were forced, and there were many furtive glances at groups on opposite sides of the room, or towards the entrance, where the queen would eventually appear.

Lucena could pop the roof off the great hall, apparently, and she had done so for the solstice celebration, leaving the hall exposed to the balmy night air, and open to the night sky, though most of the stars were not visible due to the city glow and thick air pollution. To compensate there were little lights on wires scattered above the hall – every now and then one of the wires would catch the light, and shatter the illusion of starlight. She would have done better to just hang lanterns.

Moonstruck wanted nothing more than to be home, up on the bay-side terrace of the _Evergreen Room_ watching fireworks with her friends and sipping hot summer cider. It somehow always managed to be cold the shortest night of the year in Trot, although they always scheduled a clear day and night for the event.

The Summer Sun celebration in Trot was always a blast. The day started out with the Sunrise Ceremony which she attended as an official. Afterwords she'd usually slip off with her friends to raid the various street fairs and events happening around Trot City. One of the rare uses of her status was to make Summer Sun reservations at the _Evergreen Room_ – something even she had to book months in advance. It was one of the best saloons in the city, and it sat out on the corner of the cliff that overlooked both the fjord and the bay. Fireworks were always launched from the bay, so the bay side deck was a prime location during big events. Breezy and Patch had probably been there last night, if celebrations hadn't been postponed the way they were here. Even without her there they were on the guest list, as was Windwake, though he was likely still in Stirrup Springs.

This party was nothing like the city wide-celebrations she was used to, or even the more stuffy formal events at the castle. Nopony was truly happy, for one thing. The food was bland and tasteless, the night was too warm and stifling, the city beyond the tower was quiet and tired, and the company was simply abysmal. She couldn't even spend it with Joseph and Glenda, both of whom would likely get a kick out of a proper Trot Summer Sun celebration. Or a big Canterlot party, or – well, _anywhere_ but here.

 _Nice going Lucena, you managed to get me to hate parties._ She thought sourly to herself.

"Your Grace?"

Moonstruck blinked and turned. She'd drifted through the crowd to one of the windows, which was now completely devoid of glass so that she could lean on the sill and stare out over the darkened city unhindered. Lucena hadn't come down yet, and for once there was no VIP area she had to lurk in, so she was free to hide out in whatever corner she chose. And yet, for some reason, the Prince – whom generally ignored her as much as he could – had chosen to come over and talk to her.

"Yes?"

He hesitated, shuffled a little awkwardly. "I... I'm sorry you seemed a bit lost."

Moonstruck was simply too tired to act much. "I suppose I am. Normally I'd be up on one of the larger terraces of the palace watching Solstice fireworks with my friends."

"Ah. Of course." He nodded, shifted again. "I forget, sometimes, that you had a life outside here."

Moonstruck wasn't sure if she should be suspicious or not. The prince was usually so aloof. She'd never seen him fidget, nor heard his voice so, well conversational and plain. Almost soft. He had shown her a bit of kindness from time to time in a distant, detached sort of way, but this was quite odd.

"Yes, it seems ages ago." She sighed, then stared out over the city once more. The stillness of the sprawling metropolis was especially unsettling, for some reason.

"Do the common ponies not celebrate the solstice here?"

He was quiet for a long moment. "No."

"They do back home. It's a grand festival, with street fairs, and music, and games, and fireworks..." she trailed off as more than a little homesickness caused tears to well up in her actual eyes. She fought to keep the puppet from tearing up as well.

The prince seemed about to speak several times, but couldn't seem to decide on what exactly to say. The decision was taken from him, as Eira wandered up while he was grappling with whatever he was trying to articulate.

"Ah, we're loitering over here, this evening?"

"Your Grace." The prince spun, and sketched a short, respectful bow. His voice once again grave, serious and official. "I think Duchess Angelina needs some time alone."

Moonstruck started slightly but kept the puppet still, only flicking an ear back.

"Er..." Eira hesitated as the prince placed a hand on her back to steer her away.

"She's still distraught from yesterday." The prince continued.

"Oh. Ah, yes, are you sure you -"

"Why don't you tell me about that trade agreement you were working out with the Umbridge family."

"Oh that! Well, it's simple, the Umbridges need more water, and I have a need for good quality lapis lazuli for dyes and..."

Eiras voice faded into the din of the crowd as the pair of them walked away.

Moonstruck scowled. What just happened? Did the prince just... Eira-block for her? And what in blazes could he have wanted to talk to her about? They barely spoke as it was, and usually she did most of the talking - at times incessantly to distract him from whatever reconnaissance she was in the middle of. Now that she thought about it, Eira did the same from what she'd seen of their interaction, although Moonstruck was fairly convinced the frosty mare genuinely thought that the prince found whatever she was talking about interesting. Or at least hoped he did.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a wave of trepidation rippled around the great hall, heralding the arrival of the queen. She was not announced, for the solstice party was a somewhat more casual event, but ponies were quick to drop into low, respectful bows all the same. Moonstruck took this as a cute to move towards where the queen was headed.

Once formalities were finished, they settled into the usual routine. Eira and Lucena chatted enthusiastically; Lucena would at some point find something to criticize the prince over (in this case, his disappearing act post-sacrifice); Eira would at times reinforce the queen, and at other times attempt to very gently diffuse her. Moonstruck was largely out of the conversation, but expected to be paying attention, though occasionally some baron or another would decide to stop by for a chat that was usually at least as tedious as whatever the queen and Eira were going on about. The prince would drink his potato spirits, defend himself when needed, but otherwise check-out for most of the evening, only speaking when spoken to. Eventually the queen would decide that Kyrenai needed to join them, and the wizard would be dragged in from whatever dark corner she was haunting and forced to sit between Lucena and Eira for the remainder of the party as they mostly talked around her.

Moonstruck had yet to figure out why Lucena would insist on dragging Kyrenai into the conversation when she clearly had no intention of actually talking to the mare. Well, aside from just to be annoying. Kyrenai made no attempt to hide the fact this was the absolute last place she wanted to be. She was probably the only pony in all of Roanamia who could be perpetually cranky in the queens presence. She wondered what Kyrenai had done to earn that privilege.

"Well well, I'm surprised you decided to show your face, Admiral."

Moonstruck flicked an ear to the left then turned the puppets head. Admiral Desmond was bowing deeply a respectful distance from the queen. She hadn't seen him since he'd first escorted them into the tower many weeks ago.

"You've somehow managed to bring in even fewer ponies than Maximus did when he had your job, it's a new record." Lucena grinned sardonically, and leaned back in her chair.

The admiral scowled. "There do not seem to be many pegasus left in the mountains, your Majesty. I fear those few that remain are too scattered to be able to round up effectively."

The queen rolled her eyes. "I've heard these excuses before, Admiral."

"Conditions are... harsh. Out there." The admiral said hesitantly. "Between the landscape itself, and my forces... unless they have dared to move into the distorted areas, there's no place for them to go."

"So check the distorted areas! Duchess Angelina managed to find her way through!" The queen gestured at Moonstruck.

"Quite by accident!" Moonstruck chuckled nervously. "And we were lost for weeks!"

"We already lost three airships that way – including a brand new cruiser!" Desmonds jaw dropped open. "You were very annoyed when they went missing!"

"Yes, yes. Colossal waste of money." Lucena huffed, and waved a hand flippantly. "I remember what I said!"

"And General Ursula!"

"She was rather talented." Lucena frowned. "Well, they might make it back eventually. Angelina managed it with just two servants."

Moonstruck quietly facehoofed beneath the fluffy dress. She did not want to be used as an example in this context.

"It was... rather foolish of them to pursue a single pony for such a long time in such unstable territory." Eira said very carefully. "If nothing else it wasted fuel."

"Exactly!" Admiral Desmond piped.

"I suppose." The queen grumbled sourly and slumped in her chair. "That pegasus is probably dead, anyhow."

Moonstruck smirked to herself. It's fun to know things other ponies don't know.

"More than likely. Which adds to the wastefulness of it all." The admiral nodded.

Lucena grumbled more loudly and crossed her arms over her chest, pulling her ears back. "Yes, well, we're all acquainted with wasteful things now. What else do you have?"

"That – ah... is it." The admiral grimaced. "Unless you wanted to know how the western mining operation is going."

Lucena wrinkled her nose. "I can read the reports later."

Thankfully the admiral took that as his cue to scurry off. Moonstruck sighed softly and wished time would move faster.

It did not.

While most of Lucenas parties wrapped up around two, this one dragged on, and on and on. Nopony dared go to leave until daybreak, and even then everypony had to pretend that they never wanted the party to end. It was a good hour past dawn by the time Moonstruck was finally, _finally_ able to fall into bed.

* * *

A/N: Took some liberties with the tarot reading 'cause I figured ponies might have different priorities and symbolism and stuff.


	22. Chapter 21

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

"That bad, huh?" Joseph asked the second morning after the solstice party. Moonstruck had slept most of the first day after the party.

"Yeah. I think I'd rather do that switcheroo again and kill my brain in the process than go to another one of Lucenas solstice parties." Moonstruck grumbled as she took a seat at the coffee table.

Joseph and Glenda chuckled sympathetically as she poured herself a glass of water.

"How've you two been holding up?"

"Fine. No luck hunting, but we mapped out more of the city." Joseph picked a waffle off the cart and began munching on it.

"Do you think you'll be up to enchanting that earring for Lindsey?" Glenda asked.

"Probably later. We meet her... tonight or tomorrow night?"

"Midnight the fourth day... er that would be – huh." Joseph scratched his chin. "Hadn't thought about it like that."

"Probably tomorrow." Moonstruck smiled faintly.

"I told her to check in if we don't make it the first night, since your schedule is so erratic."

"Oh good, that works. Don't suppose she has anything better to do, being dead and all." Moonstruck nodded.

"That's what she figured."

They ate their breakfast then settled in for a day of loafing. Moonstruck wasn't up to much magically, and Joseph and Glenda seemed disinclined to wander off today. Reading and writing lessons were had, the rough maps they'd been drawing out were updated and refined, and Moonstruck spent some time going over a long list of things she'd been jotting down that might be useful to Celestia. Making edits, expanding thoughts and in some cases writing things more clearly. She'd never been a very good note taker, and was a little surprised she'd resorted to it during this mission. Admittedly there was simply too much to remember without it.

Her theories about the magical state of the country took up several pages. After she had those scribbled down, she jotted down all the shield spells she knew to try to figure out how such a bizarre shield could be constructed, but couldn't come up with anything helpful. There were many different types of shields one could erect, and a number of ways to tweak them, but getting one so huge, powerful, long lasting and destructive was a trick she couldn't even begin to unravel. She wasn't even sure if the detrimental effects of the shield were deliberate or not. Likely not, considering it would eventually negatively effect Lucena as well. Ruling by fear was only effective as long as Lucena could follow up on her threats. Eventually a challenger would appear; if she was too weak to put up a fight, the illusion would be shattered and she'd lose control almost immediately.

"What language is that?" Glenda asked, pulling Moonstruck out of her thoughts.

Moonstruck blinked a few times and stared down at the complex runes scrawled across the papers in front of her. She'd been staring at the pages for a while without actually seeing any of them, it seemed.

"Magic. These runes are the bones of spells."

"Oh." Glenda edged away from them a little.

"Don't worry, they can't do anything unless I actually cast them." Moonstruck chuckled. "Most ponies work from a more poetic or lyrical spell written in the common languages, but I like to work with the framework of the spell itself." She sifted through the papers. "It's kind of more technical than most ponies like to deal with, but I tweak a lot of my spells to do all kinds of weird things, so."

"I... don't follow."

Moonstruck sat up a little straighter and scowled. How to explain this….

"Basically all magic is based on runes like these. Most unicorns can cast basic spells on a very intuitive level with only a little training, but to really get into it you need to understand how the spell is actually constructed, which is where runes come in."

She tapped the papers with one hoof. "Spell magic has its own – well it's not an alphabet since it's more character based... ah, that is to say each symbol is an entire word or idea. The alphabet you've been working with is phonetic; that is, it's all sounds. When you combine the symbols you _make_ words. In a character based system each symbol _is_ a word. And you combine those symbols to create other words, or ideas."

"That seems very complicated." Glenda scowled.

"It is. Especially when you get into advanced spell casting, and layering simple spells on top of one another to make complex ones."

"Like your puppet?"

"Yep! Eons ago a bunch of wizards got together to make a sort of shorthoof version that most ponies can tackle more easily. For instance..." Moonstruck picked up a pencil and wrote a basic shield spell out in common, then floated the paper over to Glenda to read.

"Is it safe to - ?"

"Yes, you can't cast spells." Moonstruck nodded.

Glenda squinted at the page. "P-protec...t this from enemy might, summon shield of shimm-shimmering light."

She furrowed her brow. "So... if a unicorn were to say these words, it would summon a shield?"

"Yes. Well, if they say it with the intention of casting the spell. You can read spells out loud without actually casting them, it's more about manipulating the magic. The better you get at it, the less you have to actually say the spell out loud. Eventually you just know what the spell feels like and don't have to use words at all. Most unicorns have at least a few spells memorized that they can cast pretty much instantly."

Glenda scowled at the floating paper. "And these words are a... shorthoof version of these?" She poked at one of the papers with the rune version of the spells.

"Yes." Moonstruck lifted the paper that corresponded with the spell in question and held it up next to the common language version. "That's the closest literal translation you can get, believe it or not. Runes are more abstract than most languages, and there's actually quite a bit of math involved, since a shield is typically a projection of raw energy stretched into a particular shape. You have to set the size of it, location and intensity."

She pulled the papers back to herself and broke the spell down into a simplified state.

"So basically these first two characters establish that you're projecting a shield."

She tapped the runes in question with a hoof. "The next character is pi, which is a special number that helps you find the radius of a circle. This particular spell forms a dome, so pi helps you determine the base, which is this next rune here. From there you have a number designating how tall the shield is, and another that controls the intensity. A weak shield would be a one, and a strong shield would be a ten."

"The next line sets the location – it's based on a simple grid with a three point axis. The spell caster is always 0,0,0. If I were to cast the spell over myself I'd leave it at that, but if I was to cast it over that lamp it'd be... oh... 6, 4, 4, thereabouts."

Glenda stared at her with the most befuddled expression Moonstruck couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry – told ya it was technical."

"So, how is _this_ , shorthoof for _that_?" Glenda taped the common translation, then the rune version.

"The wizards standardized a lot of spells, and figured out a way to bind them to certain phrases. When you read that spell with the right intention it does some of the work for you, and allows you to kinda fudge the dimensions and coordinates. Reciting the phrase 'protect this' while thinking of what you want to protect provides the size and location of the spell; 'enemy might' determines the intensity of the shield; and the last half does just what it sounds like."

"Huh."

"So which shield is the one covering the country?" Joseph asked. At some point he'd wandered over to inspect Moonstrucks pile of papers as well.

"That would be the million bit question." Moonstruck grumbled. "The closest thing I can get is this one, but it would have to be pretty heavily modified." She tapped a paper with a long, complex spell scrawled on it.

"That one is more of an anti-teleportation field. I'm pretty sure that's the spell my sister uses to protect her offices. I haven't figured out a work-around yet." She scratched her jaw with a fore-hoof.

"Security must be tight at your house." Joseph scratched the back of his head.

"Pff, nah, that's because she doesn't like it when I pop in on her out of the blue." Moonstruck grinned.

Joseph and Glenda chuckled.

"With some heavy modifications it could theoretically be used to seal off the country from outside magic." She bit her lip. "While also allowing ponies to physically come and go."

"But...?"

"Aside from the part that I have no problems teleporting here, the amount of power it would take to accomplish that is astronomical. Starshine just has the field set up in her areas. They run off power crystals, and they're passive most of the time. Easy to set up, efficient to run. This monster..." she shook her head.

"The next likely candidate would be this spell." She tapped a second sheet of paper that had a slightly less complicated spell. "It's an advanced shield that is best suited to deflecting magic and high speed projectiles. It's more of your standard city protection shield, since it allows ground forces to come and go easily enough."

"Again, it could theoretically be modified to do what this shield is doing, but this is an extremely costly spell that usually takes an entire team to maintain. The larger the area they need to protect, the bigger the team." Moonstruck shook her head.

"So... unless Lucena has an entire team keeping that thing going..." Joseph hazarded.

"There's no way. A spell like this can't run off a power crystal – even a huge one. Active shield spells simply take too much energy."

"You said before it was drawing energy from the land itself." Glenda scowled.

"Yeah. I just can't figure out _how_." Moonstruck shook her head. "I mean, any one of these could be modified to do what this shield is doing for a short time, over a small area, and off a power crystal, but for _a thousand years_ , over an _entire country_..."

She frowned and gathered up the papers. "Big self-powering shields are basically unheard of. This is going to take a shield expert to unravel. As long as it stands we won't be able to do much from the outside."

"I was afraid of that." Glenda frowned as well.

"Unless Lucena has the spell jotted down somewhere I can stumble across it, getting all of this information out to Celestia is the best we can do right now."

"What would you do if you did happen across the spell?" Joseph asked.

Moonstruck disintegrated the papers with the spells on them and tilted her head to the side. "How fast can you get out of Roanamia?"

"Going back is always faster than coming in so... about four days, if I don't make many stops." Joseph gave her a funny look.

"I'd send you two out with all of the intel, give you about a week to make it back to Stirrup Springs, then drop the shield."

Glenda shifted back a little. "You'd – that's extremely reckless!"

"I know. But it's like I said, there's not much anypony will be able to do with the shield up." Moonstruck shrugged. "It'll take a while for Lucena to recover her powers so she won't be able to just put it up again immediately. There'd probably be at _least_ a month window where outside forces could invade."

Moonstruck got to her hooves and headed into her room to start enchanting that earring. "We probably won't find the spell lying around anywhere, so that's a long shot scenario."

Reaching the wardrobe; she stashed her notes, then dug out the earring. She gave it a quick once over before heading over to the desk in her room, and clicking on the light. Lindsey would get a stripped down version of what Joseph and Glenda had, which greatly simplified things. No access to the nodestone network; no communication node, no ability to see invisible things. Just stealth mode, and an illusion.

Moonstruck focused on the gemstone and closed her eyes, calling up the spells she wanted and binding them to the stone. Once the basic functions were in place, she layered the voice command spells on top of them, but didn't complete the enchantments, since she would need Lindsey herself to supply a voice sample so that the spells would only respond to her. Once that was done, Moonstrucks head was buzzing a little, but otherwise okay.

* * *

The next day was equally uneventful – even the errand Glenda insisted Moonstruck go on went off without a hitch. They were quite fidgety by the time the sun made its slow trek towards the horizon. Waiting the appropriate amount of time to head to their meeting place seemed to take forever, but at long last Moonstruck, Glenda and Joseph stood in the silent tunnels a few minutes before midnight, waiting for Lindsey to show up.

"I bet they used to get a lot of rain here." Moonstruck mused, staring off into the supernatural glow of the bio-luminescent moss. They were all in stealth mode for the time being, so their voices carrying was not an issue.

"Not from what I've seen." Joseph grunted.

"I have heard tales of snow storms that lasted many moons, but I never saw them myself." Glenda added.

"Yeah, but these storm drains are like back in Trot. Super high capacity." Moonstruck looked down into the canal at their hooves, then up at the high arched ceiling. "Trot's a temperate rainforest, Trot Cities storm drains are like this. If they weren't, the city would slide right off the cliffs, I bet."

Joseph grunted and shrugged.

"Your city is built on a cliff?" Glenda asked.

"Built on, carved into, same thing." Moonstruck chuckled. "At least part of it is. It's kinda clinging to the cliffs at the mouth of a fjord. Half the city's on the fjord side, and the other half is on the bay side. The castle sits at the top of the cliff, and there's farmland above – it's very pretty. I'd show you pictures, if I had any."

She frowned. "I was thinking at the solstice party that you two would have a good time at Trots Summer Sun celebration. It's... it's nothing like here."

"I have a hard time imagining a celebration of the summer sun." Glenda said wryly.

Moonstruck laughed softly. "Yeah, I think rain is something to celebrate here."

"Lots of rain." Joseph nodded.

"Buckets and buckets!" Moonstruck grinned, the expression sliding off her face as a now familiar frustration bubbled up to the surface. She wished she was better at weathermancy. She knew some alicorns could whip up massive storms on a whim, but she'd never been able to manage more than a single thundercloud. It didn't really matter now though, since doing even that little bit of weather work wouldn't go over well with the queen.

She flicked an ear back as soft hoof falls sounded off down the tunnel. Glenda craned her neck to see over her shoulder as Joseph stood up tall. It took a few minutes for the pony come into view, and it was indeed Lindsey.

Once she was a dozen yards away, Moonstruck dropped her enchantments. Joseph and Glenda followed suit a beat later. Lindsey slid to a stop as they appeared suddenly, fur standing on end.

"'Sup." Moonstruck grunted.

"H-hi." The unicorn gulped.

"Lindsey, right?" Moonstruck said, turning around and closing the gap between them.

"Er, yes... Y-Your Grace." The unicorn hesitated, then bowed awkwardly.

"Nah, no need for that. I'm nopony important." Moonstruck stopped a few feet from her and fished the earring out of one of her saddlebags.

"It's good to see you, dear." Glenda said, ambling up with Joseph, smiling gently.

Lindsey smiled back, then focused on the earring floating in front of her. "Uh... what's that for?"

"This is what's gonna let you go back to some semblance of a life." Moonstruck said. "I've enchanted it so that you can assume a new identity, and make it so that you can go completely invisible if need be. I wouldn't recommend going around invisibly all the time, by the way. It's not as easy as you might think."

"Oh wow." Lindseys eyes grew wide. "I can't - I can't actually use magic -"

"I know. It's voice activated. So I'm going to need some voice samples."

"A what?"

"Just start talking." Moonstruck readied the recording part of the spell.

"About what?"

"Anything."

"Oh, er... well, um..." It took her a little urging but she started to ramble about some very complex mathematical theory.

Moonstruck let her go for a full minute, then brought the recording portion of the spell to a close. She laid down a few more runes to seal off the actual voice recognition part, then moved on to the commands.

"Okay, that's good. Now, I'm gonna tell you the magic words."

"Really, that's it?" Lindsey furrowed her brow.

"Yep. Okay, lets do a dry run. Repeat after me: sudo-guise."

"Sudo?"

"It's just something that won't show up in regular conversation so you won't activate or deactivate the spell accidentally."

"Oh."

Moonstruck stared expectantly at her.

"Oh! Sudo-guise."

"Good. That will activate your illusion. Alright: sudo-stealth."

"Sudo-stealth."

"Good. Sudo-cancel-guise. I'm sure you can guess what that does."

"Heh heh, yes. Sudo-cancel-guise."

"Sudo-cancel-stealth."

Once they'd gotten the commands memorized, Moonstruck did a clean run through to record the last of the audio, then sealed off the last bit of spell.

"Okay, that should do it. Just remember if you're in stealth mode anything you're carrying when you activate the spell will go invisible with you, but if you pick something up _after_ you've cast it, it won't." Moonstruck clipped the earring to Lindseys ear and took a step back.

"Good to know." Lindsey shook her head and squinted to the side to try to see the earring.

"Also, this has a silencing spell attached to it so ponies won't be able to hear you either, unless you kick something over or something. I find that pretending you're _not_ invisible is a good way to wander around invisibly – that is, be sneaky even though nopony can see or hear you."

"Right, makes sense. What do I tell anyone who asks about why I'm wearing one gaudy earring?"

"They won't be able to see it, only we can." Moonstruck gestured to Joseph and Glenda.

"Oh!"

"Why don't you give it a try." Moonstruck pulled a small mirror out of her saddlebag and floated it over to Lindsey so that she could see herself change, and/or disappear.

Lindsey blinked a few times, and stared hard at the mirror. "Sudo-guise."

She jumped back as the illusion activated; turning her coat color to a deep sorrel, lengthening her mane and tail and darkening it to nearly black. "WHOA!"

"Figured that'd be ordinary enough to go unnoticed." Moonstruck grinned.

"Ye-yeah! It's – WOW!" She turned her head left and right, then stared hard at the mirror again. "Sudo-stealth."

She disappeared. Or she would, if Moonstruck wasn't currently wearing her necklace. Instead her colors took on that odd distorted tint that came with seeing invisible things.

Again she stumbled back, letting out a short string of curses before canceling both spells.

"This is – I – th-"

"Don't mention it." Moonstruck chuckled. "Good luck, and take care."

"Oh! And take this!" Glenda said. She lowered her head and picked up a bulging grocery bag. She stepped over to Lindsey and set it at her hooves.

Lindsey peeked into the bag, her jaw dropping open. "Holy – I can't accept this!"

"Take it. We know you can't be eating much." Glenda insisted, taking a big step back. "I can't send you off on an empty stomach."

"Gotta do what Grandma says." Moonstruck shifted her weight. She could just see Joseph nod sagely out of the corner of her eye.

"I – but there's gotta be a few hundred, maybe a thousand rubees worth of groceries in here! I can't - "

"You will." Glenda gave her a sharp stare.

Lindsey opened and closed her mouth several times, but nopony could resist the Grandma Stare.

"Thank you." She muttered demurely, blushing.

Glenda nodded.

"Alrighty. We've got some stuff to do." Moonstruck spun around. "Catch you some other time, perhaps."

"Take care, deary."

"Bye."

"Bye..." Lindseys fur stood on end again as they simultaneously disappeared. Her nodestone wasn't linked to theirs, so she could not see them while they were in stealth mode.

"That went well." Moonstruck grunted as they headed towards the nearest stairwell.

"So we still splitting up?" Joseph asked.

"Yup, that was most of the money there. Gotta go rustle up some more funds." Moonstruck flicked a wing in Lindseys general direction.

"What neighborhood are we exploring tonight? Upriver, was it?" Glenda glanced over her shoulder to take one last look at the unicorn, but she was already gone. They could hear her galloping back down the tunnel.

"Yep."

They reached the nearest access way and climbed up it. Once at the surface, they parted ways; Joseph and Glenda heading to the southwest corner of the city to do some scouting around, while Moonstruck took off to find an open saloon, and a card game she could insinuate herself in to.

* * *

It took Moonstruck two nights of card-sharking to gain enough funds to start gathering Glendas survival gear, but the queen ate up most of her daytime hours, leaving her without a chance to wander down to actually buy said items. She knew she'd likely be ignored again soon enough, but it was frustrating all the same. Usually a missive would arrive with breakfast if the queen had not already made plans the day before.

Thus far, none had arrived. Moonstruck was cautiously optimistic as she finished off her oatmeal. She was also restless, so she magicked over the pile of junk mail she received every few days to see if anything interesting turned up. For the most part it really was just junk: advertisements for this or that; a free magazine praising the queens every move that apparently everypony in the country got once a week; the occasional invitation to some function or another at a barons estate that she probably couldn't attend. She suspected the invites were more of a formality, the barons likely knew she could only go to things the queen approved of. They also probably knew her mail was searched. It was unusual to find anything not obviously a coupon book or the ilk that hadn't already been opened.

As she sifted through the pile, she came across one such envelope from the Roanamian Historical Society. She was bored enough that she decided to open it to see what sort of propaganda they were selling. At first glance it was a fairly typical fundraising type letter, but the second paragraph was curious indeed.

"Are they trying to sell you that automated vacuum cleaner again?" Joseph asked. Apparently her face reflected her inner confusion.

"Get a load of this..." Moonstruck sat up a little straighter.

 _Greetings and Salutations Duchess Angelina Francesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III!_

 _I am honored to invite you to the Roanamian Historical Societies annual fundraising banquet and silent auction. As usual, one will be bidding for the right to privately display many of Roanamias most amazing and beautiful art and artifacts for the next calendar year! In addition to our usual array of historical objects, we will be introducing three new stunning pieces recently recovered from the ice sheets that previously covered the northernmost reaches of Maredor._

 _In addition to the auction, we are hosting a symposium on shield-caused climate change, the dreadful drought that has plagued our country for the last century, the rampant poverty and desperation that is a blight upon our once proud and powerful nation, and what – if anything – may be done to counteract it before it's too late._

"Whoa, whoa, they actually openly mentioned all that flat out!?" Joseph blurted.

"Yep!" Moonstruck grinned tightly, then continued.

 _Y_ _our charitable work has been brought to our attention, and we hope you will use your generous spirit, and outside-world expertise to help us create a better tomorrow!_

"And even though it's an invitation, that's all there is. No time, place, or date." Moonstruck flipped the paper over to confirm it was blank on the other side. There seemed to be a rather elaborate watermark, so she held it up to the light pouring in from the french doors.

"Oh, there it is." She muttered. There, in block lettering, visible only with the combination of her magic holding the paper, and the light of the sun was a very, very clear message.

THE BLUE ROSE

4454 NW DELACOUR ST.

TONIGHT, 9PM

GREGS BIRTHDAY PARTY

DO NOT OPEN THE SECOND ENVELOPE

COME ALONE

She glanced down at the envelope that she'd assumed was a courtesy envelope provided for an RSVP, but saw that it was already sealed with blue wax.

"That's gotta be a trap." Joseph grunted. He and Glenda had moved around to read over her shoulder.

"Maybe, maybe not. _Charitable work._ Are they talking about Lindsey, or buying random ponies food?" She mused aloud.

"I don't like it." Glenda wrinkled her snout. "Even if they mean well, they know too much."

"Yeah." Moonstruck worked her jaw around a little, still staring at the letter.

"You're going to go, aren't you?" Joseph asked flatly.

"Well, there's not really anything they can do to hurt me." Moonstruck shrugged. "If they're some kinda resistance they need to keep things on the down-low as much as we do."

"I still don't like it." Glenda grumbled.

"I can teleport away if I need to." Moonstruck added.

"What if it's Lucena trying to lure you into revealing yourself?" Joseph pointed out.

"Nah, that's not her style." Moonstruck folded the letter up and stuffed it back into its envelope.

"Or she's using you to flush out potential rebels?"

Moonstruck paused. "That might be more her style."

"How would that work?" Glenda furrowed her brow.

"I'm... not sure." Joseph furrowed his brow. "We already know all of the mail is searched, so... maybe she knows about the invite, and is just waiting to see what Mooney does with it?"

Moonstruck frowned down at the letter and envelopes. "It hadn't been tampered with first. It probably should have been. All of the invites to other stuff have been opened, or at least inspected roughly."

They were silent for a few moments.

"Does the envelope look like junk mail?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, it does." Moonstruck turned it over to see the front. The return address was for a place somewhere on Ignia Hill, which was a historic neighborhood and it was stamped, instead of hoof written. So was the palace address, although the duchess's name had been carefully hoof written in fluid calligraphy – which was a trick considering how long it was. It even had a postage stamp, and a post office tracking stamp, that was slightly smeared in one corner.

Moonstruck furrowed her brow and lined the other letters and things up next to the envelope in question. She leaned in closer, comparing the mystery invite post office stamp to an invitation to a party from a baron who lived on Ignia Hill. Then the tracking stamps on all of the other mail.

"This is a forgery." She grunted, nudging the mystery envelope. "The post office stamp isn't quite right. It's very close, but the roses aren't carved out the same. The ink is a little different too, I think."

Joseph and Glenda shuffled in close to take a look as well.

"So that means...?" Joseph sniffed at the envelopes. "Oh. It means it never went through the post office. This one smells different from the others, didn't go through the same places."

"Exactly." Moonstruck leaned back and nodded.

"Then how did it get here?" Glenda took a step back and threw her a confused look.

"Someone slipped it into the mail after it left the mail room. Probably after everything was searched."

"That would mean someone in the tower basically hand delivered it. Or hoof delivered it." Joseph scratched his chin with one clawed hand. "Someone in the historical society."

"And now I'm _super_ curious." Moonstruck grinned tightly.

The others groaned.

"Can you figure out who it was?" Glenda asked Joseph.

"Given enough time, sure." He shrugged. "I'd need to take the envelope around and compare it to the entire tower staff though."

Glenda scowled. "I still don't like this."

"It's like I said, there's not much they could do to me without screwing themselves up. And while they'll have dirt on me, I'll have dirt on them – we'll be at an impasse." Moonstruck shrugged.

Glenda grumbled under her breath, then heaved a sigh. "I suppose I can't stop you anyhow."

* * *

A/N: Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!


	23. Chapter 22

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

A little before nine PM a dark blue unicorn mare with an elaborately braided black mane and tail came to a stop across the street from a saloon. Like many other establishments of its type, its sign bore no text, simply an illustration of a blue rose painted expertly on a dark stained wood placard. Unlike many other such establishments the mare had been to, this one was in a nice neighborhood. It was clean, free of garbage and homeless ponies, and the trees and flowerbeds lining the streets were green and well maintained, if a tad wilted from the scorching daytime heat.

She felt oddly out of place.

The streets were not busy, so she went ahead and trotted straight to the door, instead of to a corner to use a crosswalk. No one seemed to care. Reaching the saloon, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. The interior was decorated in varying shades of blue, and it was largely populated by middle aged and older mares clustered around small tables with candles burning in translucent blue jars. Conversation was low and light, and there was a string quartet playing what the mare would consider something akin to musak in a small alcove on the far side of the saloon.

It did not look like a hotbed of rebellion, but the mare knew that looks could be deceiving. After all, she wasn't really blue, or a unicorn. Moonstruck stepped over to the bar and pulled an envelope out of one of her saddlebags.

"What'll it be, miss?" The barkeep asked as she ambled over, using telekenisis to dry a glass.

"I'm here for Gregs birthday party." Moonsruck said, sliding the envelope towards the barkeep.

The barkeep inspected it briefly, then nodded. "One moment."

She backed up a few paces and pushed open a door that likely led to the kitchens. She shouted something into the kitchen, then let the door swing shut.

"Someone'll be out in a minute to take you back to the banquet room."

"Thank you." Moonstruck smiled.

A few moments later an earth pony colt trotted out of the kitchen door on this side of the bar.

"This way, ma'am."

She nodded, slid the envelope back into her bag, then fell into step behind him. The colt led her along the bar to a hallway at the back of the saloon. They passed the lavatories, a door that read _Staff Only_ , a couple of storage closets, then finally a set of double doors. The colt pushed through them without pausing, and set off across the darkened room. Moonstruck hesitated, flicking her eyes around the room full of tables with stools stacked on them, and light filtering in blue through the stained glass windows.

The colt stopped at a spot half way along the south wall, waved her into the room, then pressed two stones on the wall. The stones slid aside. He reached inside and did something that resulted in a metallic groan. A section of wall swung open to let in warm, amber light.

She followed him in to a short hallway beyond the door, then down two flights of stairs lit by bare electric bulbs. As they moved downward, she started to hear music coming from some lower chamber. It had a good, steady beat. Almost a dance hall beat.

No, it _was_ a dance hall beat, she was quite certain of it once they reached the bottom of the stairs. He led her through a heavy metal door, then into a longer hallway, at the other end of which was a similar door. She couldn't help but stare at the left-hoof wall. There was a mother buckin' DJ over there, she _knew i_ t! And they were playing something that was half way between house, and swing, or big band jazz, though she couldn't hear that many horns.

A little window slid open as they reached the door. The colt spoke softly to the pony on the other side. The eye of the bouncer flicked up to take Moonstruck in, then the window slid shut again. There was a heavy clanking, cranking noise from within the door itself, then it swung open. The colt nodded to her, and stepped aside so that she could squeeze past him in the narrow passageway.

Moonstruck did so, careful not to let her presently invisible wings brush him, and wiggled into the room beyond. The door shut heavily behind her, and Moonstruck looked up at one of the few stallions in the country that was actually taller than she was. He inclined his snout towards the bar.

She nodded her thanks then stepped down a pair of stairs into the underground room. It was almost a mirror of the one above. The décor was largely the same, however the saloon goers skewed much younger, with earth and unicorn ponies mingling freely on the dance floor and around little tables. There was a proper stage, upon which was a DJ with a contraption that could only be a set of turn tables, with the horn of a gramophone instead of speakers. There was also a four piece horn section, two guitar players, a clarinet, and a drum kit. Moonstruck had to do a double take as she realized the drummer was a pegasus. Actually, so was the DJ, and the trumpet player. The rest were unicorns or earth ponies.

"Gregs party, right?"

Moonstruck shook herself as she realized she'd been staring, and turned her gaze to the bar. The barkeep smiled pleasantly at her.

"Yes! Sorry, I've just never encountered this type of music before." She shuffled over to the bar and set the invitation down in front of herself. "What's it called? I like it!"

"Electro-swing." Said the barkeep, flipping the envelope over to take a look at the unbroken seal. "It's all the rage right now. The banquet room isn't quite ready yet, care for a little something?"

"Just water's fine." Moonstruck slid onto a bar stool.

The barkeep nodded and poured her a glass out of a carafe. She was so engrossed with the music that she almost forgot to do a passive check on the water to make sure they hadn't slipped anything into it. It was clean. Or as clean as Bridle-Dur water ever was, anyway. The queen probably hoarded all of the powerful filters for the tower, but every sip of water she'd had elsewhere was always some impossible combination of gritty and oily.

The band finished up their song to raucous hoof stomping, which Moonstruck happily joined in on. A pegasus mare took the stage as the crowd settled down, pulling a mic up with her. She said something to the band, fiddled with what looked very much like a petal operated effects box, then flicked a wing.

The DJ fired up a record of some staid chamber music. The rest of the band slowly started to come in, adding their own spin to the melody until the DJ started in with the effects. Then it went full swing, as it were.

Moonstruck couldn't understand the lyrics, since the pony was singing in old Roanamian, as near as she could tell. She had a fantastic voice, so the language hardly mattered.

Unfortunately the barkeep tapped her on the shoulder half way through the song. Moonstruck was sorely tempted to wait until the song ended, but reluctantly pulled her attention away from the band.

The barkeep gestured to a short unicorn mare in thick glasses. Moonstruck nodded and slid off the stool, following the mare down the length of the bar to the far wall, and into a hallway not unlike the one a couple stories above, albeit on the opposite side of the building. There was no banquet room at the end of the hallway, just a storage closet. At the very back of the closet there was a hatch that the unicorn had some difficulty lifting. Under the hatch there were stairs.

The stairs went down another story, and opened up into a much larger storage room. At the back of the labyrinth of boxes, nestled between two towering piles of wooden crates was another door. Not surprisingly the door opened up into the storm drains.

No music wafted out of the lower storage room. In fact, it could barely be heard at all at the top of the stairwell. The only sound was the soft clip-clop of their hooves as they made their way up a gentle slope, likely up one of the shoulders of Ignia Hill. The Blue Rose was situated on the floodplain below the hill, though the streets did slope towards the river somewhat even this far down, and the storm drains seemed to be following suit.

Moonstruck was not sure if she should strike up a conversation. The mare didn't seem inclined to explain why the banquet room was through several secret doorways, and untold blocks up the storm drains. Not that she needed to explain, Moonstruck was well aware. Although it was curious that no one had asked who she was, or how she knew this Greg who was allegedly having a birthday party. Did they typically invite ponies this way? Or did they already know who she was, and that she'd likely be in disguise when she showed up?

There was a very short list of ponies who knew about her illusions, and only one of them was loose in the city somewhere. Moonstruck did not want to have to track the little unicorn down, but if Lindsey had spilled the beans there'd be repercussions. She wasn't exactly sure what to do to said unicorn if it came to that. If this were Trot, there'd be seagull duty down at the wharf for sure. Everypony liked the idea of chasing seagulls all day every day, but actually getting to do it wasn't as fun as it seemed. Especially over in the Griffon District where the gulls were extra aggressive. It was decidedly more interesting than goose duty at the various parks though. Geese were pretty laid back, in comparison to seagulls, although they were also much sneakier.

She shook herself out of her thoughts as they reached a much steeper section of canal, where the walkway zig zagged into a trio of switchbacks. This must have been a pretty cool section of storm drain to be in during a big storm, with the underground waterfall and all. The unicorn led her up the switchbacks at a trot. Once at the top, they walked only a block or so more, then turned off into a large service tunnel that had a few electric lights to augment the glowing moss. Moonstruck guessed that they would have moved equipment through here at some point. It seemed like a good place to leave a nodestone, so she discreetly magicked a pebble out of her pouch (which was invisible, along with her wings), and quietly set it against the wall just before the side tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel was a massive set of double doors. Two armed guards stepped into view from behind a pair of support pillars on either side of the doors. They eyed her coldly as the mare stepped over to them. Moonstruck stared blankly at them as she finished up the spell on the nodestone.

The mare gestured to Moonstrucks saddlebags and gave her an expectant look.

Moonstruck magicked the invitation out of the bag and sent it over to them. They inspected it, had a hurried, hushed conversation, then the guards leveled their halberds on her.

"How did you get this!? This wasn't sent to you!"

"It was in the mail." Moonstruck said flatly. She let the illusion fall from her features. "Did you really expect me to just waltz into a saloon in broad daylight in all my alicorny glory?"

Judging by the shocked and horrified looks on their faces, they had.

"F-forgive us. I... they said an important guest was possibly coming, but they didn't say - er didn't give a - I hadn't... we..." The guards threw themselves on the ground, the unicorn knelt awkwardly a beat later.

"Gotta say, if you guys are the resistance, your country's kinda doomed." Moonstruck sighed. "That's enough of that. Are you gonna let me in, or what?"

"O-of course Your Majesty!" One of the guards popped up and scrambled over to the pony-sized door. He pushed it open.

The other guard got to his hooves and stood at stiff attention as Moonstruck rolled her eyes and ambled past him. The room on the other side of the doors was a massive, dimly lit warehouse. Large bays opened up on either side of the room, likely where that theorized heavy equipment was stored in times past. Now, most of them were dark, but far from empty. She could just make out crates in the shadows.

There wasn't much activity for what was supposed to be an important meeting, and most of it was happening towards the back of the warehouse where the loading docks were, up on the raised section. She couldn't see much of what was going on from this far back, but it seemed like there was something of a living room set up down there, with a great round table plopped in the middle of it. Ponies were milling around, but they hadn't seemed to notice her yet.

This wasn't looking promising, but she she was still curious, so instead of striding purposefully towards the loading docks, she strolled leisurely. It took them until she was half way to the platform to notice her, and when they did, it sparked a flurry of activity. Ponies scrambled left and right, straightening up furniture and arranging packets of papers on a large stone table that dominated the middle of the platform. Moonstruck felt a little bad for them and slowed her pace even more, so that she arrived within polite speaking distance as they lined up along the docks in cloaks with the hoods drawn down close over their muzzles.

"Welcome, stranger." Said one stallion in a low voice. Moonstruck was certain he was trying to sound mysterious. "It pleases us to see you have arrived safely."

"Thanks. So, what'd you want to talk about?"

The gathered ponies threw glances at one another, shuffling awkwardly.

"The Roanamian Historical Society formed many years ago to unearth the true history of our country." Said the stallion.

"Okay."

"A history that has been stolen from us by the Queen."

"She seems to be into that sort of thing."

The stallion hesitated a moment. "We feel that within these forbidden histories lie the keys to liberating our once proud nation, and fixing all that has been broken."

"Cool." She wasn't sure why, but Moonstruck was determined to get him to break character.

He hesitated again, and she was certain he was glaring sharply at her from within his hood.

"Although we are many hundred strong, and have spent years planning, we do not have the raw firepower to bring Lucenas regime to an end. We do not know your true purpose here, but we know that you have been assisting ponies on a very small scale, and in that way you are our ally - albeit distantly. It is our hope that you would become not just a genuine ally, but a comrade, and join us on our noble quest to bring peace, hope and freedom to our country."

Moonstruck shifted her weight back. "Who would you be putting in charge in Lucenas stead?"

The stallion jerked his head back and lifted a front hoof as the rest of the ponies shifted even more nervously.

"What!?"

"You have to have somepony in mind. You know it'll be civil war once Lucena is removed; the barons will carve the country up into city-states and it could get even worse than it is now." Moonstruck swept her gaze along the line of ponies. "Honestly, the only pony I can think of who'd be able to hold things together is Eira, and she's probably about as bad as Lucena. I know you're not affiliated with her."

The ponies exchanged glances, a few murmured worriedly to one another.

"You do not wish to help us?"

"I wanna know who I'm dealing with." Moonstruck glared at the stallion, hoping she was making eye contact. "It's easy to say you want change, but not so easy to put ponies in charge who can make those changes happen."

"Th-this is true." Said a mare to the stallions left.

"It's also true that whomever you place in charge must have enough military might to maintain order long enough for the new government to establish itself." Moonstruck took a step forward, crouched slightly, then leapt onto the platform, sending the ponies scattering away from her. They regrouped near the table. "You may be many hundred strong, but Lucena has many thousand, as far as I know."

"This is also true." The mare frowned.

"So who?" Moonstruck pressed.

A great awkwardness settled over the loading platform, Moonstruck could only think of one reason why that would be so. "You don't have anypony to take over, do you?"

"We do!" The stallion who spoke before piped, finally dropping his low _mysterious_ voice. "We just... can't tell you who they are. Until you promise to help us."

Moonstruck sighed heavily. "I'm gonna have to pass, sorry. If you just needed me to blow some stuff up it might be different, but I have my own agenda, as I'm sure you've already surmised. And my own time tables."

The ponies erupted into nervous whispers as Moonstruck spun around and started back to the edge of the platform.

"Wait! Please!"

The new voice gave her pause. She'd heard it before, but couldn't quite place it. Moonstruck turned her head to see an especially tall cloaked and hooded pony hurry out of the shadows near the corridors at the back of the platform.

"I beg you, please hear us out!" He panted, sliding to a stop near the others. He towered over them. Moonstruck was sure most everypony in Roanamia was short, but this pony was tall by most standards.

"It – we aren't as disorganized and naive as we seem. Most of our plans are in place we simply need -"

Moonstruck suddenly remembered where she'd heard his voice before. She whipped around and used her telekenisis to flip the stallions hood back. Beneath the hood was the nightmare face of the prince.

"You!" She spat, grabbing hold of the whole lot of them and lifting them all off the floor, along with anything else that wasn't bolted down – she was in too much of a panic to be more selective. She couldn't take the prince out without raising suspicion, but a half remembered memory charm should scramble everything up enough to buy her some time to get back to the tower and round up Joseph and Glenda for a mad dash out of the country. Glenda would just have to share her gear, although if Joseph was right, they would be out of here in four days, and likely wouldn't need much. Moonstruck hadn't wanted to move that quickly, but now it looked like they didn't have a choice.

She was just about ready to cast what she remembered of the spell, when a short, palomino unicorn slid to a stop in front of her.

"WAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIT! HE'S NOT WHAT HE SEEMS!"

Moonstruck glared down at Lindsey, the spell poised and ready. So, she _was_ the bean spiller.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

Lindsey was not looking at her, had whirled on the prince. "I told you to wait up and hang back!"

"I thought you were right behind me!" He yelped, thrashing in the grip of the spell. "And I had to step in! She'd already decided not to help! Not even hear us out!"

"Uuuugggghhhh!" Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"Where were you anyway?! Weren't you the one who was supposed to approach her!?" The prince glared sourly at her.

"I had to use the little fillies room!" She huffed.

"Why didn't you say so!"

" _I. Did._ "

"Oh." The prince grimaced. "If its any consolation, I didn't get here until Buster had already started talking."

" _Petals and thorns_... Buster, what the buck!?" Lindsey shifted her gaze, and her ire, to the stallion in question.

"What?" He barked. His hood had fallen back, revealing a brown earth pony with a white blaze running down his snout. "I stuck to the script!"

"What script? There was never a script!"

"I wrote one! This is a secret society, we have to sound all noble and mysterious right? Otherwise it'll seem weird." He sniffed haughtily as the others groaned. "Besides, it had to be better than what Max was going to say."

"Hey!" The prince shot him a sharp look.

"Max wasn't supposed to talk to her at all – not yet." Lindsey grumbled.

The prince grumbled as well.

"You know why not." Lindsey snapped.

"I wasn't gonna – I mean, I just wanted to thank her in person." He frowned.

"You had your chance already! If she'd decided to join us, you'd have had another." Lindsey sighed.

"Thank me?" Moonstruck interjected, her guard lowering as the argument went on. She kept a firm grip on all of them, however.

The prince threw a glance at her then looked away, a blush creeping across his face.

"For rescuing Lindsey. I... I couldn't... I don't have magic like you. There was no way I could have and... and not..."

He sighed wearily and shook his head closing his eyes "She's my best friend. Watching her die was absolute torture."

"But if I'd broken cover, everything would have been lost." He gestured to the ponies floating around him, then smiled faintly, looking over at her sheepishly. "I was pretty surprised when she showed up later alive and well."

"I think his jaw is still on the floor back there somewhere." Lindsey quipped. "I'm not sure how he's talking right now, to be honest."

Moonstruck worked her jaw around a little. She probably didn't need to preform the faulty charm after all, but she still didn't like this. It was the _prince_ , one of the most loathed creatures in the country! Lucenas freakish, impossible half-breed son! He couldn't be _good_ , could he?

"Just out of curiosity," one of the unicorn mares asked, looking around at all of the floating ponies and furniture. "How many things can you levitate?"

Moonstruck half closed her eyes. "How many cards to a deck?"

"Fifty two." Lindsey murmured, casting her eyes over the airborne mess.

"There's more than fifty two things here." The prince grunted, looking around.

"You don't know how many decks I can control." Moonstruck smiled sweetly. It was two and a half, but they didn't need to know that.

All of the ponies seemed to gulp at once. Making up her mind, she set everyone and everything down, then pulled her deck of cards out of their pouch. She pulled a small table and a pair of stools over, and plopped the deck down in the middle, staring at the prince expectantly.

"Uh..." He hesitated, looking amazingly small for a moment, before he cautiously edged over and settled himself on the stool opposite her.

Like magic, the ponies silently gathered around the table in a wide circle. Moonstruck shuffled the cards without looking at them, then dealt.

"Five card draw."

The prince nodded, watching her for a few seconds before lifting his cards. Moonstruck barely glanced at her hand, her eyes trained on the prince. She had no idea how to read him. Pony? Dragon? A combination of the two? From what she'd seen he didn't have any of Josephs various unconscious quirks, but he also wasn't half of whatever species Joseph was. Birdlike did not apply. Overgrown lizard might.

One thing she knew for certain was that to survive around his mother – even go as far as organize a rebellion under her nose - Prince Maximus had to be an extremely good actor. She did not lull him into a false sense of security, as she normally would. She simply dominated from the first hand; she won when it seemed impossible, called every last bluff, and barely glanced at her own cards in the process, choosing instead to watch every minute twitch he made. All of that twitching seemed to be very ponylike. Nothing alien at all.

Her face hurt from scowling, but she maintained the expression, keeping herself as blank as possible, aside from the glare. For his part, the prince was a good player. Not good enough to slip anything past her intense inspection, but good. He was easily on par with Breezy and Patch.

After an hour Moonstruck was certain of two things; one: she probably scared the living snot out of him (good!), and two: he was telling the truth. It rankled her a bit, but she had to go with her gut.

She finally relaxed her face and flopped her cards on the table. "Alright. I believe you."

There was a massive, collective sigh from all of the gathered ponies, and a thick tension that Moonstruck hadn't noticed before dissipated along with it. The prince nearly collapsed, but caught himself and straightened up out of the hunch he'd been in.

"So you'll help us?"

"I'll consider it." Moonstruck grunted. She gathered up her cards. "It's like I said, I have my own stuff going on. Deadlines, and all."

"I... well I can't really compress what we've been doing there's so much, but we... actually kind of do just need you to blow some stuff up." The prince said hastily. "Er... rather... there's..."

He scowled. "I can't deal with mother myself."

Moonstruck paused mid shuffle, eyebrows raised.

"Nor Magmanus." He grimaced. "Without those two a _coup_ _d 'etat_ is within easy reach, but as long as Mother is in power, and has the ability to awaken my father – as she has threatened to do on a number of occasions..."

"You need an alicorn at full power, at the very least." Moonstruck finished for him, her brow furrowed yet again as she slid the cards back in to their pouch.

"Yes. And someone with more complete magical knowledge would be extremely beneficial as well. We are um... lacking, as I'm sure you've noticed."

Moonstruck stared hard at the half-dragon. Everything she'd heard about this pony... thing was that he was a cold, ruthless, murdering, power hungry monster. Everything she'd personally seen had only served to reinforce her secondhoof knowledge. And yet, he sat before her now; soft spoken, fidgeting nervously, humble, unsure of himself. A stark contrast between the aloof stallion she'd interacted with from time to time. But there was a fire burning in his eyes that reminded her of the look Glenda had given her back in Waterfall Castle. It was laughable for such a frail old pegasus to challenge an alicorn. Absolutely absurd. But she'd done it all the same. It was a look of pure, wild determination.

If she wasn't already soft, she'd say she was getting there. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I need to talk it over with my friends."

"Your friends?" He asked, confused. "You've made trustworthy friends already?"

"Er, you probably know them as my bodyguard and maid." Moonstruck shifted her weight, blinking her eyes open. "Swiftkill and Glenda."

He sat up a little straighter. "Yes, of course! Lindsey said you were very friendly with your servants!"

"They aren't my servants." She shook her head. "I don't even have underlings back home. I mean, I technically have employees, but none of them could be considered underlings – well a couple could be considered _minions_ at times." She smiled briefly. "This effects them too, I can't just go around making big decisions without their input."

The prince looked taken aback. He seemed about to speak several times, then he finally nodded. "Then, by all means, discuss it with them!"

"Alright, that it?" Moonstruck asked, standing up.

"I... yes. I'm sure you understand why we can't tell you more." The prince said, scrambling to his hooves as well.

"Yup. Alright, I'll let you know. Same time, same place?"

"Uh..." he threw a glance at Lindsey who nodded.

"Tomorrow?" She offered.

"Works, for me, unless your mom has plans." Moonstruck shrugged. "Later."

She activated stealth mode, then teleported to the nearest surface nodestone.

* * *

Prince Maximus jerked back as the duchess abruptly disappeared. He knew she could do that; Lindsey had been all too happy to demonstrate her new toy, and she'd told him everything she could remember about being teleported, but it was still shocking.

Lindsey stepped over to the table and waved a hoof where the duchess had just been.

"Teleported, I think."

The gathered ponies erupted into excited conversations, as more ponies poured out of the loading bays and garages lining the main room.

Maximus started to breathe heavily. Too heavily. As the anxiety started to creep in and reduce his body to a quivering mass of immobile nerves, he frantically looked around for the little end table he kept a small pile of paper bags in. Spotting it not far away, he clumsily dragged it over with magic, used a hoof to open the drawer, and pulled one of the bags out to hold over his nose before the attack could render him nearly immobile.

"What, seriously?" Lindsey asked, breaking off conversation with a knot of other ponies and sidling over to him.

He nodded, not sure if he could speak or not. It wasn't the worst attack, but it was bad. He flattened his ears against his skull, squeezed his eyes shut, and just focused on breathing, trying to let the noisy, excited chatter fall away. It was hopeful chatter, he reminded himself. It was a good sound. But he couldn't deal with it at the moment.

"She can't be worse than the queen." Lindsey teased, her voice cutting through the fog, and causing him to bark out a laugh. "Or Eira, for that matter."

"Are you kidding me!?" He panted. "Mother is _nothing_ next to her!"

"How!?" Lindsey yelped.

"Mother does everything out of fear. _Everything._ " He shook his head a little, careful not to shake the bag lose just yet. "She's completely paranoid. She plans for everything because she _fears_ everything. You can never be sure what exactly she's going to do, but it will always be something selfish, and impulsive."

He shuddered. "The Duchess is not paranoid. She doesn't do things out of fear. She's unpredictable because she's two steps ahead. And she's completely unreadable."

"She's also not selfish." Lindsey stared wide eyed into space for a moment, then tilted her head towards him. "Alright, I give you that one. At least from a strategic, strictly non-magical standpoint I'd probably prefer to go up against your mother than Duchess Angelina."

"What about Eira?" She worked her jaw around a little. "She isn't paranoid. From the sounds of it I can't say she's two steps ahead all the time, though."

"Eira is just selfish." Maximus shook his head. "She's smart, but not as smart as she thinks."

Lindsey let a slow grin creep across her face. "This is gonna work."

"If she agrees, we have a much better chance of succeeding." Maximus corrected.

"If she agrees, we have a pony who can stand hoof to hoof with Lucena, and probably keep Eira in place if need be."

He sighed wearily, then pulled the bag away from his nose, most of the anxiety had passed, though he still trembled a little. "I do not like how much of our success depends on her agreeing to help us. She has all the cards when it comes to affairs outside the country. We could be going from bad to worse by dropping the shield."

"I don't like it either." Lindsey frowned. "But I don't know what else we can do. We can't go on like this."

The next twenty four hours were going to be nerve-wracking, Maximus knew. For the time being, he gathered his wits and nerves off the floor, and called the meeting to order. They had quite a bit to prepare for if the duchess decided to join them. And Buster needed a serious talking-to.

* * *

Moonstruck teleported back to the storm drains just outside the service door that led into the tower, her mind spinning after everything that had just happened. This certainly changed things quite a bit. She knew she should keep to her mission as much as possible, but she also knew that the bulk of the intel she'd stumbled face first in to wasn't going to be of much use if they couldn't do something about the shield. If the historical society knew what sort of spell the queen was using to keep the shield up, or even if they knew how to bring it down and simply needed somepony powerful enough to do it, it would be immensely helpful.

None of it mattered if Joseph and Glenda weren't in. She had no desire to keep Joseph and especially Glenda in Roanamia any longer than she absolutely had to, and she was only willing to stick around longer if she knew she could do an immense amount of damage on her way out.

She opened the door, stepped through it, closed it behind her, then teleported up to the secret passageway outside the living room. Wearily sliding the door open, she stepped through, closed it and wiggled out from under the tapestry only to freeze as an entirely displaced wave of guilt washed over her. Joseph and Glenda had decided to wait up for her, and were glaring daggers. She felt like an adolescent who'd just slinked in past curfew.

"So, what did they want?" Glenda asked cooly as she casually closed a book.

She told them.

"Personally, I don't know. It would be great if we can work with the locals to take down the shield, but it's also obscenely risky." She concluded. "It's up to you two."

"We're in." They said in unison.

Moonstruck jerked back. "What!?"

"It's horrible here!" Joseph blurted.

"We may have had it rough in the mountains, but at least we were free!" Glenda barked.

"You're not even going to sleep on it?" Moonstruck laughed.

"There is no need." Glenda huffed, ruffling her wings irately. "If these ponies have half a chance of making a difference, I'll throw my lot in with them. I've seen too much, and lost too many to stand by any longer, now that I have a choice."

Moonstruck scowled. She was going to have to be the voice of reason here. Being the reasonable one always made her uneasy.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this but – I think we should proceed with caution. This might still be some sort of weird trick, or power play. I say we go along with it for now, but be ready to bail at a moments notice if things start to turn sour."

Joseph and Glenda exchanged glances.

"This is reasonable." Glenda nodded.

"Was about to suggest the same thing." Joseph added.

"Good." Moonstruck felt a little better. "So this means certain things are going to have to be kept a secret. The nodestone network, our plans to leave, Josephs actual species, and my identity."

They agreed this too was reasonable.

"What about all of the information you've gathered?" Joseph asked.

"They probably know more than we do about most of it." Moonstruck shrugged. "I mean, Lindsey even supplied us with most of what we know about the shield by accident."

After agreeing for a third time that this was reasonable, they decided to hit the hay. Moonstruck crawled into bed a short while later wondering what in blazes she'd gotten them all in to this time.

* * *

A/N: Oh ho!


	24. Chapter 23

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Since Glenda and Joseph were 100% on board with helping the Historical Society, Moonstruck felt it best to bring them along to the meeting. So, as soon as the coast was clear, they headed down to the storm drains.

"Why are we doing this again?" Glenda asked.

"To make a dramatic entrance." Moonstruck quipped.

"Seems a bit... what's the word..." She scowled.

"It's a show of power, right?" Joseph interjected.

"You get a gold star!" Moonstruck grinned at him.

"Pardon?"

"We're gonna make an impression, and show off our mad skills. Or, Mooney's, anyway."

"Oh! Oh I get it now. Okay." Glenda nodded. "I've done this before. It's been a long time, and we never had magic."

Moonstruck chuckled and focused ahead. They were a little early, and the guards were relaxed at their post, chatting softly in the harsh electric lights. The distortion of stealth mode seemed to highlight the contrast between the cool blue of the glowing moss, and the warm yellow of the lights, giving the ponies a funny flickering aura that clashed spectacularly with their coats. The big double doors were shut tight, as was the smaller pony-sized access door. Moonstruck would not normally preform a blind teleport like this – much less teleport others with her, but she was quite certain of the thickness of the doorway, and of the open space beyond. If it was anything like yesterday, there shouldn't be anypony hanging around just inside the door on the other side.

She stopped the others as they reached the huge doors, watched the guards converse for a few moments, then nodded. "Get ready, this will feel a little different."

The others gulped and planted their hooves and feet. Moonstruck called up her teleportation spell, fed a complex equation into it, and teleported them inside, ten feet beyond the doors. Nopony was in the immediate area around the door, but it was considerably busier than it had been last night. Ponies hustled this way and that, many pulling wagons full of equipment, or food. Others had clip boards, or scrolls. All three tribes of ponies were represented, pegasus ponies even flitted overhead between widely spaced catwalks and galleries up high. _This_ felt more like a rebellion. If she'd walked into this last night she might have been more willing to agree.

She glanced around for a place to plop a nodestone, then teleported it to a far corner. After she sealed off the spell and connected it to the network, she exchanged glances with Joseph and Glenda. Now they could teleport directly inside if need be. She'd come up with the voice commands for it later, for now it was enough that she could teleport them all at once without doing it blindly from the other side of the door.

They started into the warehouse, careful to weave their way around the – what must be - hundreds of ponies trotting this way and that across the room. She could see the prince up on the loading docks talking to Lindsey and a few other ponies with what appeared to be blue-prints hovering between them.

"Alright, I'm gonna start rolling back spells, strut your stuff, and make cool faces."

Glenda giggled and nodded, then schooled her face into a fierce scowl as Joseph grinned, then took on an aloof air; half closing his eyes and sweeping his detached gaze around the warehouse. Moonstruck smiled tightly to herself and dropped the silencing spell. Ponies all around them hesitated as they began to sense their presence, first by their hoof falls, then by being just able to perceive them visually as Moonstruck scaled the invisibility spell back. A ripple of alarm spread out around them as they slowly became tangible, changing to shock as Moonstruck canceled the spell entirely once they were thirty feet from the loading docks. They had a large ring of ponies around them, staring with eyes wide and mouths flopped open.

The ponies on the docks looked over in alarm.

Moonstruck let their entrance sink in for a moment, shifting her weight back and staring almost lazily up at the ponies on the docks. _That's right. We can come and go as we please without any of you noticing._

"We're in." She said into the silence.

"Yes!" Lindsey crowed, nudging the prince roughly. "Did you see that?! I told you this will work!"

"W-welcome aboard!" The prince stammered, then ducked his head and blushed. "Er... welcome. And, thank you. We ah, were just going over the plans for evacuation routes out of Dirtton, you can join us, while the others set up the big map for the uh, main briefing. If you wish."

Moonstruck exchanged glances with the others, shrugged and ambled up to the loading docks. She jumped up without opening her wings. Joseph a beat behind, then Glenda with a bit of a flutter.

The prince swallowed hard then cleared his throat then gestured to the gathered ponies. "Should probably introduce everyone... you know Lindsey – she's my second in command, and chief engineer and mathematician. This is Patty, our weapons specialist, Buster, our demolition specialist - "

"Alchemist." Corrected Buster, sniffing haughtily. "I can do far more than demolish buildings."

"He can also burn off his own forelocks." Lindsey quipped as the others giggled.

"Moving on!" The prince interjected before things could get out of control. "That's Evee, our cartographer and one of our best fliers; Jack, the head of acquisitions; Fern, our chief of espionage and tea; and Wenchell, our wizard... of sorts."

The unicorn in question shrugged. "Yeah, you know how it is."

Moonstruck nodded, then threw a glance at the brown unicorn with mint green mane and tail.

" _Espionage and tea_?"

"Yeah, I make a good cup of tea." She chuckled and ducked her head, blushing darkly. "Or as close to tea as I can get it, since we don't have any _actual_ tea here."

It was safe to say Moonstruck was intrigued. She filed that bit of information away for later, then turned to the prince. "So, aside from running the show, what do you do?"

The prince perked up a little. "Oh! I'm chief historian, and head of military operations. I also have a regiment of the military that is completely loyal to me, although they don't know anything about the society – mostly for their own protection. We're still working out how, exactly we're going to use them, when the time comes." He grimaced.

Moonstruck logged that away as well. "So, this is Glenda, she knows stuff, and has grandma powers. This is Joseph. He's my recon guy, navigator, extra muscle, and snark factory. I kinda run the show, and keep the queen entertained, and do all the magic stuff."

" _DRACO ORNITHOMIMUS_!" Someone shouted shrilly.

Everyone on the platform turned to see a black and white paint earth pony hobble swiftly towards them. She wore a heavy brown robe, and walked with a bad limp that likely had something to do with a complicated brace on her right front leg that became visible every other step. She stared at Joseph like a prospector who'd just struck gold.

" _Draco Ornithomimus_ – I never thought I'd see actual remains, much less a _living specimen_!" She breathed, stopping just short of bowling Joseph over. He took a step back and gave Moonstruck a harried look.

"Uh, this is Geode, our resident dragonologist." The prince said hesitantly. "And I'm sorry, but Joseph isn't actually a dragon, he's just been created to resemble one somewhat..."

"I know a dragon when I see one, boy!" Geode huffed, producing a heavy tome from under her robe somehow. She began rifling through the pages. " _Draco Ornithomimus_ , only known by sub-fossil remains from a remote area of Brumby. For some time there was some question as to whether or not it was a juvenile _draco titanus_ , or merely some sort of archaic bird that strongly resembled them, but thaumic resonance readings of the bones revealed them to be not only true dragons, but dragons that resonated at a frequency unique to all known life!"

She finally found the page she wanted and tapped it with her un-braced hoof. Sure enough, there was a two page spread of a partial skeleton that very much resembled Joseph, complete with a somewhat wonky illustration of a theoretical restoration.

"As of _Dragonnes of the Worlde Edition III_ – the latest copy one such as myself could possibly acquire, but still over a thousand years old – they were presumed extinct. I assume that has changed."

"Uh... no? I actually had no idea anyone had ever studied dragons extensively." Moonstruck said lamely. So much for keeping _that_ a secret. She glanced up at the prince, not surprised to see a look of absolute horror on his face.

"Huh, look at that." Joseph grunted, inspecting the book upside down. "Guess we are known to science. Or at least, were."

"It speaks!" Geode squealed.

"Th-this is b-bad! Very, very bad!" The prince muttered, all the color gone from his face. "You brought a dragon here. A dragon – you do know Mother can control dragons? Please tell me you didn't know..."

"I knew. It was just sorta how things ended up." Moonstruck grimaced. "If it means anything, she doesn't know he's a dragon. And I kind of have an inkling she might not be able to control him."

"You have an _inkling_!?"

Lindsey quietly slid over to the prince and hoofed him a paper bag. He took it from her and proceeded to hyperventilate into it.

"She's probably right!" Geode chortled. "Good instinct! It's like I said, _D. ornithomimus_ resonates at a different frequency than _D. titanus_. Your mother has only ever been known to control _titanus_. Granted, they're the dominant... actually, only known species of dragon aside from _ornithomimus,_ but one cannot argue with a thaumic resonance reading. We should be perfectly fine."

"Um, what's a thaumic resonance reading?" Wenchell asked, raising his hoof half-heartedly.

"It's a really specialized field." Moonstruck rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling as she tried to remember the particulars of it. "Very few ponies can do it – it's when you kinda... well magically sense what frequency someone, or something is resonating at. They use it to read fossils a lot to determine their age, and what species they belong to, if it isn't clear just from physically examining them."

"Can you do that?" Lindsey asked.

"Ha! No. I think there's maybe a half-dozen ponies alive today that can. It's a very rare ability. I can read runes, but that's much more common."

"Runes. Runes I know. In theory." Wenchell nodded slowly. "Never seen 'em myself."

"It's a high level thing. Probably not something you can do if you've spent your life under the shield." Moonstruck nodded as well.

"Yep, 's what I figure."

"Have you seen his runes?" Geode asked egarly, gesturing to Joseph.

"Yes, actually." Moonstruck flinched slightly at he memory.

"And?"

"Closed rune pattern, very similar to, but different than other samples of dragon magic I've seen. Kind of a different color, if you will."

Geode giggled and wobbled around in an excited circle.

"Yeah, your mom probably can't control him." Wenchell drawled. "At least not effectively. Might cause headaches, but she can do that to anyone."

Everyone chuckled but the prince, who seemed rather unconvinced as he stared at them over his paper bag.

"If it makes you feel any better, I flat out growled at her the other day and she dismissed me as an abomination." Joseph offered.

The prince snapped his gaze over to the dragon. "Really?"

"Yep." Moonstruck nodded. "Scared the snot outta me – I was worried he'd blow our cover."

"She woke me up!" Joseph glowered into space. "And she was yelling at you over glob knows what..."

"Did she kick the door down?" The prince asked.

"Yes." Joseph, Moonstruck and Glenda said in unison.

"She does that."

"So I've heard." Moontruck smirked, then cleared her throat. "So, anyway, the escape routes, was it?"

"Yes. YES." The prince perked up somewhat, pulling himself out of the slouch he'd slid in to, although the bag was still on his nose. He took a stuttering breath and pulled it off. "Right, have you been out to Dirtton yet?"

"No, not yet."

"It's one of the more convoluted neighborhoods. Most ponies use the storm drains if they need to move around it in an emergency, but they would likely be too dangerous during a major disaster."

Wenchell levitated what Moonstruck had previously thought were blueprints, but was in fact a detailed map of the neighborhood. She'd seen it from the air, but had not had a good opportunity to really study it.

"It may seem like overkill to plan evacuation routes if worse comes to worse, but I'd really like to be prepared for anything, and some of the most vulnerable ponies live in Dirtton, since its in one of the biggest, lowest flood plains." The prince continued, nodding at the map. "Before mothers reign it was actually a marsh until mid-summer. Anyway, the best route seems to be by air for everyone living on the north and east sides of the neighborhood since there's no easy route out in those directions. The south and west sides can manage on hoof, with spotters in the air, I think."

"The spotters are important for the whole city," Evee added. "Even if a pony knows the neighborhood well, there's no telling what's going on around the next corner. The trouble is getting the townsponies to trust a pegasus spotter. Most earth ponies probably won't question it much, but the unicorns..." she frowned.

"The duds probably wouldn't worry. Everyone else?" Lindsey scowled. "I mean, we have plenty of magic users here, but most of the general unicorn population has, um... been raised a certain way."

"Is this really what you're discussing now?" Geode asked, staring sourly up at the prince. "It has nothing to do with dragons."

"Er, yes while the big map is being laid out. Looks like they're nearly done."

He was right, the team of ponies wrestling with a massive painted canvas map were about done spreading it across a large stone table, and setting up various tokens around it that likely represented various forces.

"But it has nothing to do with my amazing discovery!" She huffed.

The prince let out a long suffering sigh. "This is important too, Geode. You live in Dirtton, don't you?"

"I... yes." She frowned. "Though I don't really expect to survive if I'm home during a disaster. Too many heavy books on rickety shelves. And I spend most of my time here anyway."

"All set!" One of the map-setter-uppers piped.

The gathered ponies quickly scrambled over to the table, thanking the set-up crew as they did so. Geode reluctantly plopped down on a stool next to Joseph and proceeded to stare dreamily up at him. Joseph scooched away slightly, eyeing her a bit suspiciously.

The prince cleared his throat as everyone settled in. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning."

He hesitated a moment. "Or, actually, how much do you know? I don't want to go over something you're already aware of."

Moonstruck glanced at Joseph and Glenda. They shrugged.

"Well, we know that Roanamia has been cut off from the world for a thousand years. We did not know there was a shield over the country until we got here, since there's magical distortion on the other side of the shield as well and had assumed that the distortion itself was the bulk of the problem." Moonstruck debated telling them about Sarah, but decided against it.

"And we know that for whatever reason a pony can physically come and go from the shield if they know the ins and outs of navigating the distortion."

She threw a glance at Lindsey. "And because of Lindsey, we now know that the shield is what's causing most of your problems. The drought, the distortion or complete lack of cutie marks, the various physical adaptations pegasus ponies have adopted to cope with a low magic environment, and the magicless unicorns. I assume there are earth ponies that do not have their amazing strength, as well."

"That would be why I'm an alchemist, and not a furniture mover." Buster grunted.

"I have no idea how the shield could do that, in case you were wondering." Moonstruck wrinkled her nose. "Well, aside from that it seems to be drawing its power from the land itself. Or rather, anything and everything living beneath it."

"You are fairly well informed then." The prince nodded. He cleared his throat. "Do you know anything about what led up to the erection -" several ponies giggled, the prince rolled his eyes "- of the shield?"

"Not... really." Moonstruck frowned, her mind drifting back to the castle in the crescent valley, and her readings before she embarked on her journey. It felt like ages ago.

"I know Lucena was up to some sort of shady stuff that eventually led to some kind of conflict."

For reasons she would soon understand, the prince beamed and practically sparkled with glee. "Ah! Perhaps getting the full story would be of use – or, well what we've been able to piece together – do chime in if you know something about outside forces. So, about fifteen hundred years ago..."

Moonstruck had been to her fair share of lectures. She'd heard ponies tell detailed stories, both real and imagined, but _this_ took the cake. The prince was not a bad storyteller, he just included Every Possible Detail. What should have taken five or ten minutes stretched on for nearly an hour. By the end of it, the gathered ponies were in various stages of distraction. Some were napping with their heads down on the table, others were knitting, Geode had produced a tape measure and was attempting to take Josephs measurements, muttering to herself, and scribbling down notes on a notepad she'd apparently had tucked into her robes as well. Joseph was doing his best to avoid being measured.

"The shield held, and we've been under it ever since." The prince concluded finally.

Moonstruck startled at the sudden silence. She'd tried her best to pay attention, she really had! But she'd kept zoning out! She straightened up and cleared her throat a few times.

"That was uh, thorough."

"You did it again." Lindsey sighed heavily. She looked like she'd fallen asleep.

"Sorry. I can get long winded – I have actually written much of it down, but it's, well it's a work in progress." The prince ducked his head. "So, um... did you at least catch the gist of it?"

Moonstruck opened her mouth to reply, but Glenda beat her to it.

"Lucenas elder sister and original heir to the throne, Princess Nadia, was killed in a freak accident. The old king and queen had already withdrawn from public life and the crowns, which meant Lucena was next in line to rule. All was peaceful for a while, but as time went on, she began gathering followers of exceptional loyalty and used them to form a dragon-worshipping cult. As the cult grew in power and influence, she began segregating the city by tribe, with pegasus and earth ponies frequently being excluded from major decision making, and eventually various benefits and city services. Around that time, the rulers of Equestria began to take notice, and started making diplomatic overtures to gain access to the country to see what was going on. These were all peaceful until the final visit, when Lucena cast them out and declared war by having Magmanus fly up out of the mountains to destroy most of their fleet. The war lasted five years, and culminated in Lucena placing a gigantic shield over the entire country, that outside forces attempted to bring down with brute force. It didn't work."

"THAT is how you summarize!" Lindsey pointed a hoof at Glenda.

"Yes! Do you edit? I need an editor." The prince nodded vigorously.

"What?" Glenda furrowed her brow.

Moonstruck barked out a laugh, even as a few things clicked in her head. She looked over at Joseph, wondering if he was thinking the same thing. He might be, but he was too busy trying to stay out of Geodes reach. She was surprised he was being that tolerant.

"On the other side of the mountains there are three rings." Moonstruck said, eyes still on Joseph, though she kept an ear towards the prince and Lindsey. "Two mountain tops that are impossibly crescent shaped, and a shallow gorge. If you stand in the middle of that gorge, it lines up perfectly with the crescent mountains."

She turned to look at the prince. "When I was there, I thought the walls of the gorge looked like they'd been carved out by something."

The prince was staring at her with eyes the size of dinner plates. "You've seen – _stood in_ \- the impact point of the spell?"

"Yes."

"Sweet Rosalina..." He breathed as the others murmured. "What was it like?"

"Surreal, and kind of nauseating."

"Nauseating?"

"It was very high up." Moonstruck grimaced.

"Thats not possible, they'd have to be even higher to fire off the spell, right?" Lindsey furrowed her brow and threw a glance at Wenchell, who nodded.

"The distortion in that area places the plateau at a very high altitude. It probably wasn't that high when it happened." Joseph grunted, finally getting up and moving to Moonstrucks other side. "I'm not sure it was even a plateau, originally."

"Well, the blast came in from the direction of Moonlight castle, which was on our south border at the time, on an island in an oxbow lake. It was said to be quite lovely." Said the prince.

"It still is, even as it crumbles." Moonstruck noted, nudging one of the little clay ponies in front of her. "We've been."

"Fantastic! I wonder if it will be there if we can bring the shield down, or if it will disappear as the distortion does." The prince shook himself. "The shield. Yes. It needs to come down – I'm sure you've already surmised that the country simply cannot continue the way it is. If no rain comes this winter, we won't survive another year – there simply aren't enough resources to go around."

"And the queen won't drop the shield, nor let anyone leave Bridle-Dur." Patty – a grullo earth pony - piped. "Not that the other realms are any better off. Except maybe for Maredor, and the north coast – but we'd have to cross Roanham to get there since we can't take the main routes along the coast. It's been a wasteland for over a century."

"I know I sound like a broken record, but I want to know if outside the shield is any better." Jack, a pale blue unicorn tapped his hoof on the table. "I know you all think anything is better than this, but we could be going from the frying pan and into the fire."

There was a pregnant pause as all eyes turned to Moonstruck.

"It's better. So much better. Like, I can't even begin to describe how much better it is."

"Could you try?" Jack chuckled nervously.

Moonstruck chuckled as well. "There's plenty of food, water and magic to go around, we've had relative peace for over a thousand years, and most pony controlled nations are a sort of monarchistic socialism presided over by benevolent alicorns."

They stared at her incredulously.

"Which one's hard to believe? The alicorns?"

They exchanged glances.

"Yeah, the alicorns." Jack finally said, ducking his head sheepishly. "I mean, Max is alright... and more or less an alicorn, I guess. And you seem pretty normal."

"I'm kind of the worst alicorn, really. The others are way better. At least the ones I've met." Moonstruck rolled her eyes and waved a hoof vaguely. Joseph and Glenda chuckled, but no one else did.

She grimaced. "Anyway, yes. Much better. Lots of food. Very little poverty, if any."

"That reminds me..." Fern scowled at her. "Yesterday, when you asked about who we would put in charge after we took down Lucena... what _are_ you doing here, if not spying?"

"Stuff."

"You were right about all of it. About the civil war that would break out in the resulting power vacuum. I don't think you're here by accident like all of the newspapers say. So, if you were able to sabotage the shield and/or defeat Lucena, then what?" Fern pressed.

Moonstruck shifted her weight, and took a moment to mull over her response. She'd never thought some of her more nitty gritty diplomacy and political science classes would come into play like this.

"It is generally considered inadvisable for outside forces to remove a leader who is basically holding a country together with an iron grip. Historically there's been a lot of resentment, and the outsiders don't generally have a good grasp of the internal politics to prevent further problems. However, you said it yourself, Roanamia won't last another year like this."

"It's going to be bad no matter what happens." Fern nodded slowly. "May as well kick the hornets nest."

"Yep."

The ponies mulled this over for a few moments.

"Wait, we've been cut off for so long, why come poking around _now_?" Fern asked.

Moonstruck threw a glance at Joseph and Glenda. He shrugged, she nodded slightly. Moonstruck turned back to the brown and mint unicorn and let out a short breath.

"A pegasus pony got out."

Apparently the majority of the ponies in earshot had been eavesdropping, for the loading docks went silent, and all activity in a fifty foot radius ceased.

"Impossible." Wenchell snorted, leaning back on his stool. He shook his shaggy purple mane. "There's no way. There's too much distortion."

"I got in, didn't I?" Moonstruck lifted a brow. "And I already said it could be done with the right know-how."

"Yeah, but you're an alicorn, you're practically a goddess. There's no way an ordinary pegasus could just fly out of Roanamia."

"There is, and she did. Entirely by accident. From the sounds of it she got General Ursula permanently lost in the process." Moonstruck frowned at the 'practically a goddess' bit. Seemed like that bit of propaganda had thoroughly permeated the culture.

The prince jerked his head around. "You mean, the pony they were chasing actually made it _out!?_ Did General Ursula and her ships make it out as well!?"

"Yes. And no. No sign of her on the other side. Just the pegasus." Moonstruck shook her head. "Nopony has come in or out of the country for a thousand years, and Lucena slammed the door for less than ideal reasons, so it's safe to say Princess Celestia was more than a little curious about what's been happening here since last she saw."

"Princess Celestia!?" The prince's jaw was practically on the floor. "But you told mother she-"

"I told Lucena a lot of things." Moonstruck casually inspected a hoof. "Much of it complete bull hokey."

She set her hoof down and sat up a little straighter. "Anyway, what the pony in question told us was pretty unsettling, so, that's _why now._ "

"Can, can you get more ponies out?" The prince asked after a short pause.

"One or two pegasus, sure. Maybe even a small group. Not a full scale evacuation, if that's what you're thinking." Joseph rumbled.

The princes ears drooped. "Oh."

"Could the shield be weakening?" Wenchell looked over at Lindsey.

She shrugged. "It's possible. We've already worked out the magical decay of the ambient magic in the country versus how many thaums a shield of that magnitude would require based on what spells we know of. The math is approximate at best, but it seems to indicate that Roanamia will be tapped out some time in the next five years, but it _should_ have been bled dry nearly two hundred years ago. It's entirely possible the shield is weakening, and maybe has been for some time."

Wenchell shook his head. "It had to be very recent. It's hard to test from here, but one thing we've known for sure was that despite everything the math indicated, the shield has remained as strong as the day it was cast, and it's remained so even as the country is being sucked dry."

"That's the equation that keeps me up at night, you know." Lindsey wrinkled her nose.

"You brought it on yourself when you cooked it up." Wenchell snorted.

"I know, that's the part that keeps me awake."

"You've always been able to come and go from the shield." Joseph said slowly. "It's the distortion that turns most ponies back."

"What!?" Wenchell and Lindsey yelped.

"It's true." Moonstruck nodded. "Getting through the shield itself is nothing. Getting up to the that point is the tricky part."

"That – that makes no sense!" Wenchell shook his head.

"I know."

"I can't cast spells, but I know how they should work, and shields _do not_ work that way." Lindsey shook her head as well.

"I know." Moonstruck sighed. "I take it you have no idea where the power source might be found?"

"If we did we would have busted it open eons ago." Wenchell snorted.

Moonstruck stifled a yawn. "So, is this it, or are we gonna discuss what you're actually doing right now?"

"Yes! Yes, sorry, I, just felt it was important to know the history." The prince ducked his head, then cleared his throat. "As far as right now, we have enough forces in Bridle-Dur to overthrow the city. Although the military is based here, the bulk of it is largely scattered around the country keeping the barons in line, save for Eira, as she has her own forces. She will likely be our biggest challenger once we set things in motion. The societies forces are the blue figures."

The map, which Moonstruck had spent a fair amount of time staring at earlier while the prince had given his history lesson, was of Bridle-Dur and the surrounding countryside. There were little clusters of blue ceramic ponies scattered around the city, some gathered around flags that she assumed were bases. The red figures were largely clustered around the tower, and at each compass point, with a few paper machet dirigibles lurking at the edge of the city. Among those dirigibles was a good sized group of purple figures, which Moonstruck assumed was that loyal chunk of the military that the prince had mentioned earlier.

"How much of the military sticks in or around Bridle-Dur?" She asked.

"Mothers personal forces, which consists of five elite regiments and their airships, the Crystal Corps – whom are Kyrenai's wizards – most of upper management, and the city police. About twenty to twenty five thousand military, about two hundred arcane, and around a thousand police officers. With a dozen large airships, and sixty smaller ships."

Moonstruck gave the prince an odd look. "How many ponies do you have?"

"Two thousand, plus three thousand military ponies."

"And you think you have enough pony-power to take on all of Lucenas forces?" She was just about ready to head back to the tower for the evening if this was all they had to work with.

"Yes. Of those twenty five thousand-plus ponies, maybe only a thousand are genuinely loyal to Mother. All of them are higher ranking, few of them have seen combat of any sort. Additionally, there are no pegasus in the military, and we have over a thousand in the society."

"Pegasus who can _easily_ outmaneuver their gunships." Evee added, chest puffing out with pride.

"If you can outmaneuver them, how were you captured?" Glenda asked, eyeing the other pegasus suspiciously.

Evee shrugged. "I taught them how. We're driven by fear when the catchers come for us. No matter how good we are, that fear will keep us from studying them, from learning how to avoid them. When I joined the society, I set out to learn how they work, to see what they're really capable of. They have their flaws, and I've learned to exploit them."

"We also plan on sabotaging quite a few of them." Fern chuckled.

"That too." Evee grinned.

"Okay, next question." Moonstruck blurted, still dubious. "How are you so sure most of the military around Bridle-Dur will desert when you get things going?"

"We don't." The prince frowned. "It's one of the bigger gambles. Military service is entirely on a volunteer basis, but mostly only poor ponies join because it means guaranteed food and water for their families, and a modicum of protection from the police. The drought has strained resources to the point that the family benefits have been mostly cut."

"Right." Moonstruck worked her jaw around a little. The common soldier had very little incentive to remain loyal, and if it looked like the historical society had a real chance of toppling the queen, they might just defect and join in the fun.

"I'm going to assume your personal regiment is still well fed?"

"As well fed as they can be." The prince chuckled.

"How quickly can the rest of the military get here once word gets out?"

"Aside from a small battalion that patrols the coast, three days."

"That is a very narrow window to secure the city."

"I know. That's one of my sticking points." The prince scowled at the wooden model of the tower that rose arrogantly two feet above the rest of the map. "That's also why we're only planning on taking the city, and not the whole country – aside from the lack of pony-power to take the whole country, of course. We will need time to muster forces and find resources somehow. Though I suppose if you can leave as soon as possible to bring help, that would likely be our best course of action post- _coup_. If we can hold the city long enough for you to return with help, the barons will likely be brought into line fairly quickly."

He shook himself and turned his gaze to her. "We are also fully prepared to buy whatever supplies we will need – we have little to trade, but vast amounts of riches that are mostly worthless here. I have no problems with emptying out the treasure vaults to keep everyone fed."

Moonstruck stared at him for a moment, surprised he was thinking that far ahead.

"Noted."

"Of course, this all depends upon bringing the shield down and neutralizing Mother before she has a chance to summon Magmanus." The prince sighed, turning his gaze back to the tower. "Which is the biggest sticking point."

Moonstruck scowled at the tower as well. She was inclined to be brutally honest about this mess. And it was a mess. It was a huge mess, a bigger mess than even she was capable of making, and she could make some serious messes. Everything hinged on the opposition just giving up once Lucena was taken down, and everypony cooperating afterwords out of goodwill. Moonstruck considered herself a gambling mare, but she did not like those odds, not one bit. Not when too many other unsavory ponies would benefit from Lucenas removal.

"You don't have enough ponies for this." She finally said. "Even if we take Lucena out and bring the shield down, there's no way a few thousand ponies can manage a city of almost a million."

"I know." The prince closed his eyes. "But we have nothing left."

Moonstruck frowned and looked around the table. The other ponies were somber, and all of the evesdroppers were grim as they went about trying to look busy.

"You spent years trapping pegasus." Glenda said softly into the silence, her wizened gaze leveled on the prince. "Do they follow you now willingly, or because they have no other choice?"

"Willingly, I'd hope." The prince looked taken aback. "I mean, I didn't capture them with the intent of creating an army out of them. I did my best not to capture any at all, but... so many of you were starving out there, it was hard to do nothing."

"It was pretty natural to be pulled into the fold of the historical society." Evee added. "Max couldn't move all of the pegasus he captured into his personal forces, or help us disappear underground without drawing attention to himself, so a lot of us were assigned to unicorns associated with the society."

"Our choices are limited, but at least we had them. Many chose to join the society and live mostly underground. Others actually did like the ponies they were assigned to and stick around with them." She shrugged, then grinned. "I think we're indirectly responsible for a lot of the pegasus/unicorn hybrids in the city."

Glenda considered this for a long moment.

"They have enough ponies." She said at last.

"How do you figure?" Moonstruck lifted a brow.

"The tower is all but undefended. If we can take the tower, the rest of the city will fall quickly, I think." She nodded at the map. "The city is confusing even for the ponies who live here; if they can keep all of the air forces at bay, it will be up to the ground forces, and there's no way they can touch us in the tower. At least not for a while."

Moonstruck gaped at her, then turned to the map. She was right, without pegasus ponies, Lucena had pathetic aerial support. Ground based forces would be caught up in the confusion of the cities layout and unable to launch an effective attack, which meant the society could pick them off easily from the air, slowly expanding out to take the whole city.

"The tower is the most fiercely protected part of the city." The prince gave her an incredulous look. "It's protected by many spells."

"No, it isn't. At least, not anymore." Moonstruck felt a grin tugging at her lips. "How do you think we can come and go as we please?"

The princes jaw dropped open. "I had assumed your magic was strong enough to get around what Mother has in place!"

"I came in fully expecting layers of shields and magical trip-wires and boobie traps up the wazoo, but there's nothing. Nothing at all." Moonstruck felt a mad giggle creeping up her spine. "Joseph even forgot and teleported directly into the room the other day. Not a peep out of security."

"Kyrenai is personally responsible for keeping those enchantments going." The prince insisted. "There's no way she would fall lax in her duties."

"She might not be able to do them anymore." Moonstruck fought back the giggle with all she had. "Eira was teasing her about her telekenisis when I did the card show at the first party I attended. Why?"

The prince stared through her, eyes wide. "She... I knew her powers have been waning but she has the crystal corps..."

"Who might not be as powerful as we think." Wenchell was starting to catch on. "If Kyrenai and the others are losing their magic..." He turned to look at Moonstruck. "Can... is there a way... do you know how to check the queens power level?"

"Yes, but she'd know what I was up to immediately." Moonstruck grimaced. "I know there's ways to do it without raising suspicions, but I don't know any of those spells."

"I think we need to make a trip down to the university." Wenchell exchanged glances with Lindsey.

"I think we all do." She turned and looked at the prince.

"Agreed, but not tonight, we're going to need a lot of time to search, and it's already late." He nodded, then scrunched his face up into a scowl. "It's better to head down there during the day anyway... I may have to find a way to keep mother busy for a couple of days. Actually, what time is it?"

"Quarter to midnight." Lindsey supplied, leaning back to look at a large clock hanging above the loading bays.

"I need to be getting back. Don't want her to start popping in on me in the middle of the night again." He grimaced.

"Eww, she does that?" Moonstruck grimaced as well.

"When she thinks I'm mostly sleeping at the office, yes." The prince grumbled. "Makes it rather difficult to do anything here."

"So, she like, teleports into your office in the dead of night like SON YOU SHOULD BE SLEEPING WHERE I CAN WATCH YOU CREEPILY FROM THE CORNER!" Moonstruck reared up onto her hind legs, crossed her front legs over her chest, and frowned the deepest, most disapproving frown of all time.

The prince ducked his head and somehow managed to turn even redder as the others at the table burst out laughing.

"No no, she teleports into the hall, then kicks the door down!" Joseph snorted.

Moonstruck burst out laughing as the prince nodded, a strained smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Okay, so, rough plan of action for next time is an expedition to the university." Lindsey said after they'd calmed down for the most part.

"I'm kinda surprised you still have a university." Moonstruck grunted as she slid off her stool and stretched her wings. "Seems like something Lucena would squash, or otherwise render completely useless."

"Technically we don't – well, you'll see." Wenchell drawled. "It's pretty weird."

"Oh, is that that distorted space off over there?" Joseph pointed off to his right.

Wenchell gaped at him. "What?"

"Pocket dimension, you think?" Moonstruck started towards the edge of the loading docks.

"Yeah, probably. It's hard to pin down though. I'll be interested to see how we get down there."

"Pocket dimension?" Glenda furrowed her brow.

"I'll explain on the way back."

"You know about all of that?" The prince asked.

"Yeah, duh! We came through the mountains remember. All kinds of weird stuff like that out there." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "So, what time are we meeting again or – oh you've gotta get Lucena out of town for a couple of days or something. Well, let us know."

"Uh, yes. I... um. Yes. See you then."

Moonstruck paused as the prince mumbled something. She looked back to see him quickly look away. Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"He wants to know what teleporting is like."

He whirled on her, giving her a horrified look, blushing so darkly he was turning purple.

Moonstruck exchanged glances with Joseph and Glenda. They were trying very hard not to laugh.

"Alright, c'mon. I'm guessing you don't know about the secret passagways in the tower either."

"I do know about those, actually." He said lamely. "And it's alright, I can get myself home."

"Did you know they connected to the storm drains?" Glenda asked.

"Yes. But I've been under the impression there were powerful enchantments..." He frowned, shuffled in place. Lindsey ambled up next to him, half turned, jumped and kicked him soundly in the rump.

"Just go!"

"OW!" He yelped, stumbling forward. He glared back at her. "Lindsey!"

"I can get him from there." Moonstruck said. And then she did. The next instant the four of them were standing in the storm drains outside the tower maintenance door, the prince about fifteen feet away from them.

He stared at her with wide, terrified eyes. "That. Was weird."

"You get used to it." Glenda smiled sweetly at him.

"Listen to her go on like she's an expert or something." Moonstruck chuckled. Joseph had already opened the door. They piled inside, then waited for the prince to sheepishly shuffle into the hallway as well.

"I, uh... can get back to my chambers from here. I think. What side of the tower are we on?"

"North." Moonstruck grunted.

"Ah, yes, good, I should be able to take the east staircases all the way up." He took a step back. Shuffle shuffle. "Good night?"

"G'night."

He bit his lip, turned around and trotted off into the darkness in the opposite direction they were to be heading in. Moonstruck gave him to a count of thirty before she teleported she and the others back to their suite.

"Thoughts?" She asked as they began getting ready for bed.

"They're desperate beyond all reason." Joseph said.

"Seems like a good bunch of ponies. I'm surprised the prince is so..." Glenda trailed off, "I can't think of the term."

"Geeky." Moonstruck supplied, then smirked. "I suppose a broken clock is right twice a day."

"Eh?" Joseph and Glenda gave her confused looks.

"The queen has been insisting that her son is a docile librarian. It might be the only thing she's right about."


	25. Chapter 24

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

It was business as usual for several days after the meeting. Moonstruck did not see the prince around the tower (not that she was allowed out of her chambers much), but she did manage to duck out and buy some gear for Glenda. She already had a spare canteen, but figured a third wouldn't hurt. Lightly used saddlebags were easy to come by, but a good travel cloak and bedroll were proving tricky. Back in Trot, the off season was always the best time to buy winter gear, but Bridle-Dur didn't seem to roll that way, and most anything relating to winter was tucked away in storage, apparently – at least at the second hoof stores. Any sort of dried foodstuffs were nearly impossible to find as well, which wasn't particularly surprising.

She didn't doubt Josephs time estimates, but she wanted to be prepared for as much as possible. If this whole _coup d'etat_ thing didn't work out, getting out of the country could be infinitely more complicated. She didn't think they'd be betrayed, but it was still possible they could be found out. She hadn't mentioned it to the others yet, but she was putting together their kits and affixing nodestones to them so that they could be summoned at a moments notice if need be. Summoning objects was fairly easy, but she needed to set up a more complex spell that would be responsive to the current situation if, for some reason, she couldn't grab them herself and teleport them directly to where they were – or were about to be.

Responsive magic was a new, and infinitely tricky field. She'd experimented with it before, but thus far she'd only really incorporated a tiny bit of it into her nodestone spells to make sure she (or Joseph or Glenda) was always teleported to the clearest space closest to the stone itself. Enchanting one that would register that it needed to meet a pony at a location that said pony wasn't currently occupying was something she hadn't yet figured out, much less how she'd go about controlling it via voice command.

She could set up safe-houses though. Or some sort of mini-base, wherein, Glenda and Joseph could teleport to, then summon the packs before they teleport elsewhere. That certainly cut out all of that fiddly responsive magic, and would be infinitely useful if they were separated, had lost communication capabilities, and needed to regroup.

"I think we have another invitation." Glenda said into her thoughts.

Moonstruck blinked a few times and turned her had, wondering how long she'd been staring into space. She hadn't even heard the door open. "Huh?"

Glenda set an envelope down in front of her. It was addressed to _Duckless Angle In Francisco Banjo Fresno,_ and the return address was to some sort of publishing company somewhere in Dirtton. She snorted a laugh at the mangled name and flipped it over to see that it was sealed with blue wax. The insignia within the wax was different from the birthday invite, but she suspected the color was the real indicator. She opened the envelope and magicked the letter out, not bothering to read the offer for a catalog selling novelty garden whirligigs. Holding the letter up to the light coming in from the french doors, she squinted at the watermark.

"Warehouse, 6am, two days later." She read aloud. She moved the letter a little closer to her face to read some very tiny text that she was impressed that they'd been able to get on the paper that clearly in such a way. "All day event, but will be back before 8am. Bring water and snacks."

"All day but back before eight... time distortion, do you think?" Joseph scratched the back of his head.

"Probably." Moonstruck flipped it over to make sure nothing else was on there, then promptly disintegrated both it, and the envelope.

Moonstruck was to accompany the queen to a baronesses estate for lunch and a couple rounds of croquet, so she reluctantly hauled herself off the couch to get ready. She wondered what sort of distraction the prince would cook up, and whether or not it would actually pull Lucenas attention away from Bridle-Dur long enough for them to do whatever it was they were going to do.

What sort of distraction could he make that wouldn't result in the prince possibly being dragged along? She had a hard time coming up with something that would get Lucena out of town without him, unless she had a sudden urge to go visit Eira, and decided not to bring him along, although in that case Moonstruck would likely be the one being dragged off which was equally counterproductive.

The speculation and anticipation occupied her through much of the day and night, and the next day didn't seem to give off any hint as to what was going to happen. In fact, the only indication something was up, was that a message arrived at dinnertime informing her that the queen would be busy for the next three days, though it gave no explanation as to why.

Of all the maddening things about this country, Moonstruck was slightly embarrassed to admit (to herself) that this was possibly the worst.

At long last they teleported down to the warehouse at the designated time and date. Moonstruck had many questions, but foremost in her mind was...

"So, how'd you keep the queen busy for three days?" She blurted as soon as they were in earshot of the team that would be taking them down to the university.

The prince ducked his head sheepishly. "It's kind of silly, actually. Mother is very particular about how her magic library is arranged, so whenever I need to keep her distracted for a while, I move a few books around – nothing too disastrous, just enough to make her decide to redo the whole filing system. It usually takes her three days for she and Kyrenai to go through it all."

Moonstruck chortled. "That's it?"

He nodded, blushing slightly.

"That is hilarious!"

"So, how long could you keep her busy if you, say, blasted half her library?" Joseph asked.

"Oh, no, that would be too much – she'd fly into a fit of rage and start destroying neighborhoods again." The prince shook his head as the three dozen ponies surrounding him nodded with wide, haunted eyes.

"Besides, she has a very short list of ponies who would do such a thing, and I'm at the top of it." He grimaced.

"She destroyed entire neighborhoods!?" Glenda yelped.

"Every so often she takes a notion." Lindsey sighed. "It's been a while though."

"I think she's due, actually." Wenchell drawled.

Everyone shushed him. He shrugged.

"Did you bring water and snacks?" Fern asked as the ponies on the loading docks joined them on the lower level.

"Yup."

"Good, there's water down there, but you can't drink it, and definitely nothing to eat."

"That's what we figured." Moonstruck nodded.

"We don't typically stay down there any longer than we have to, and it's best to come back before nightfall. It... gets weird at night." The prince added.

"Weird _er._ " Lindsey muttered.

"Yeah, your message was a little confusing. We're guessing there's some kinda time distortion down there?" Moonstruck drawled as they started back across the warehouse.

"Yes one or two hours out here equals about eight in there, but the university also has its own sort of day/night cycle." Max nodded. "If we get down there first thing in the morning it's always 'morning' there, but if we come at any other time it can get a bit... interesting."

Once they were to the big double doors, they filed out into the storm drains. They crossed the canal, turned left, and walked a few miles down stream before turning down another offshoot of the tunnel. Unlike the side tunnel that led to the warehouse, this one was no larger than the rest of the storm drains and seemed to have an excess of glowing moss occupying it, making it fairly bright all and all. They remained largely silent as they went, and were careful to avoid any other ponies making their way through the drains the odd times they ran across them.

After passing several intersections they entered a section that likely housed a smaller storage area that ended in a blind alley. There was a rusted metal door at the end of the alley, and here the moss was especially bright. Wenchell produced a key out of one of his packs, and cautiously unlocked the door. The prince gave it a bit of a shove, and it creaked open slowly and reluctantly. It was pitch black beyond. They stared into the darkness, listening intently. Joseph pushed forward to sniff around at the door for a few moments.

After many exchanged glances, the prince cast a light spell (with a little bit of difficulty, Moonstruck noted), and stepped cautiously through the door, unicorns who were able to do so also making the tips of their horns glow as they passed the threshold. Once they were all inside, Wenchell shut the door, locked it, and cast his light spell.

Then they were off again, walking down the cramped corridor two by two. Moonstruck was not sure how long they walked, since she had forgotten to bring a clock, although she suspected clocks probably didn't work right in distorted areas like this. The tunnel finally opened up into a larger room that looked like it had been a pump house at some point, but was now long abandoned. Beyond the dilapidated equipment was the guard rail of a staircase that led downwards.

"We can speak now." The prince muttered. "Though it's advisable to stay fairly quiet until we get down into the cavern."

"I thought you said there wasn't anything to eat down here?" Joseph chuckled softly as he stepped away from the group. Moonstruck could make out the silhouette of a very large rat skittering along the far wall. It was easily the size of a small dog.

"That's a big one. Was wondering where all the rats got off to." She murmured. All cities had rats. Some were larger than others. One of the things she had noted about Bridle-Dur was that it was curiously lacking in rats – even in the worst of slums.

"What do you think pegasus ponies eat?" Evee snorted, rolling her eyes. "And don't bother with those big subterranean ones, they're too hard to - "

Joseph, whom had been stalking swiftly towards the rat, lunged, snatched it up in his jaws and bit down. There was a loud squeal that ended in a soft crunch. The struggling rat went limp.

"- kill." Evee finished lamely, jaw dropping open. She snapped it shut, then said, "and the other rats will mob whoever kills one of them, so you'll want to eat it quick before the others get here."

They were already pouring out of the equipment, hissing and chattering their teeth at Joseph as he eyed them coolly down the length of his snout. Moosntruck found herself drifting back with the rest of the group, though she also shifted so that she was safely behind the dragon, and out of the burn zone.

As the rats charged in at Joseph, he casually dropped his prize into one hand, planted his feet, and breathed a plume of fire along the floor at the rats. They slid to a stop before their whiskers could be singed, their cries turning more fearful as they began scrambling away. Joseph breathed again, herding a small group of them against the wall, then pounced once more, snatching up another in his jaws, then a third with his free hand, holding it by its scruff until he could drop the second carcass to finish the third rat off with a quick bite.

The rats panicked cries faded away as they scattered into the labyrinth of equipment. Joseph picked up his kill and ambled back over. "Want one Glenda?"

"Oh, thank you dear, that would be lovely." She beamed at him and happily trotted over to claim her meal.

"Are there more of him? Where do I get one?" Evee whispered to Moonstruck.

Moonstruck giggled.

She glanced over at the prince to see that he'd paled somewhat as he watched Joseph and Glenda stow their meals into packs for later, eyes mostly on Joseph. He sensed her gaze, glanced over, then looked away.

"Right, um, better keep moving. We can stop to eat once we get down there."

The more she saw of the prince with his guard down, the more she realized that aside from his bizarre appearance, there was really nothing particularly draconic about him. In fact, she just didn't get the same vibe she did from Joseph. She trusted Joseph completely, but he still had a predatory aura that set off little alarm bells in the back of her head. The prince did not have this effect at all. Neither did the Roanamian pegasus, and they were omnivores. Perhaps it was because they were still adapting, and hadn't yet crossed the threshold to occupy the same headspace as Joseph, and other obligate carnivores.

"So what makes the rats hard to kill?" Joseph asked as they started down the stairs.

"They require sharper teeth, I guess." Evee shrugged. "And probably more jaw pressure."

"Definitely more jaw pressure." Another pegasus added.

"How do you kill larger animals then? Kicking them? Couldn't you just stomp the rats?"

"Tried that." A pegasus stallion sighed, he turned his head, the light of various glowing unicorn horn tips reflecting briefly off a set of raised scars on either side of his muzzle. "If you don't break their spine in one go, they whip around and attack. 'S how I got these scars."

"It's easier if you work as a team, but it takes a lot of effort for so little meat."

"Hmm." Joseph nodded slightly and stared off into the darkness ahead.

"You probably won't be able to kill them so easily again." Fern sighed. "They're incredibly smart – now that they know you're dangerous they'll probably steer clear."

"I'm used to it." Joseph sniffed.

Moonstruck threw a grin at him, which he returned.

They settled back into silence as descending the stairs became a single-file affair and some of the promised weirdness started to creep in on them. The stairs would twist on occasion into spirals, then open up into long flat hallways, some with doors, others with side corridors. Every so often Joseph would pause to stare down one of those hallways, though he never entered one to investigate whatever had drawn his attention.

Going by how long they walked, the University had to be many miles under ground, but Moonstruck knew better. No matter how far down they went the air never changed. No matter how many hallways they shuffled silently through, they did not cover much ground. Every three hallways there were chalk markings on the walls at the entrances and exits. If this was anything like the strange rituals they had to do out in the foothills, the markings were probably there to let the travelers know how many times they had to go around before they could exit out into the university. She estimated that they were maybe only a few hundred feet below the surface at most.

Her suspicions were confirmed as they finally reached the right "depth" to exit out into the university. The final hallway ended in a freight elevator, instead of another staircase. The elevator did not work, but the ponies were able to pry the doors open with practiced ease. They all stepped on the large elevator, then the door openers slid the doors shut behind them. The unicorns all canceled their light spells – Moonstruck followed suit a beat later as she realized she was the only one who hadn't. The ponies at the back of the elevator opened the second set of doors.

The space beyond the elevator doors was not pitch black. Going by the faint blue glow, there was a lot of moss out there. The ponies stepped out of the elevator and on to an iron catwalk of the sort one would expect to see in a factory or warehouse. It was suspended on the edge of a cliff that overlooked a massive chamber in which laid an entire city. In the center of the city was a lake, and in the middle of the lake was what could only be the base of the tower. It practically shimmered with magic. A dense, dark, oozing sort of magic, that Moonstruck could feel twisting in her guts.

"When the shield deflected that spell, things broke on the inside too." The prince said. "Parts of Bridle-Dur were demolished in the shockwave – at least above ground. For some reason a copy of part of the city ended up down here. Including the university, which did not survive the destruction on the surface."

" _Cool!"_

"Er, yes, I suppose it is pretty neat." The prince shuffled a little awkwardly and blushed.

"That's the base of the tower?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow as she stepped out onto the catwalk.

"Ah, no. And, also yes. The towers base only goes down four stories and is built on high ground. That is... we're not really sure what that is." The prince frowned, then cleared his throat. "The area is mostly stable, so we can fly if you wish to explore while the others go directly to the university."

"Sounds good to me. You guys coming?" Moonstruck glanced at Joseph and Glenda, whom were already making ready to take off. Several pegasus lunged off the catwalk, heading towards a large complex of buildings down below, and to their left. Unless there was some sort of visual distortion down here, it looked to be two or three miles away.

"So, shield spells, and something that can passively check the queens power levels, right?" Lindsey asked as she stepped past them.

"Yes. I know we ran across a bunch of shield spells we couldn't make heads or tails of." The prince nodded. "Perhaps the Duchess will be able to decipher them, since she has more extensive magical training."

"Yeah, probably." Moonstruck grunted absently, her wings twitching in anticipation. She didn't exactly get to fly for fun here, and most of her late night flights were limited at best.

The prince backed up a pace to give them room, then she, Joseph and Glenda bounded over the guard rail and into the cool subterranean air. The prince joined them a few beats later, flying slightly behind and to the left of them.

Moonstruck looked back, giving him a funny look. "So, are you gonna be the tour guide, or are you just stretching your wings?"

"I was thinking of conducting the tour from back here, but..." he smiled faintly then worked his broad, leathery wings, moving out to take the point of the formation.

"There's not much to say, really. This was known as Collegetown back before the cataclysm. It was home to the university, of course, and many shops, restaurants and parks. Most of the apartment buildings fell in the early earthquakes, you can see them in ruins across the neighborhood." He gestured to various features below.

"Before it ended up down here it was partially in the northwest corner of what is now Dirtton, and took up equal parts of Cypress Downs, and Pennyworth Park."

"So, northwest part of town, on high ground." Joseph muttered.

"Yes. Most of that is low ground now, since the quakes altered the flow of the river somewhat. The whole area sank quite a bit."

"When did the city layout get screwed up?" Moonstruck asked.

"Oh dear, that must have been one or two hundred years after the cataclysm." The prince tilted his head to the side. "Our records seem to indicate that Mother initially started putting things back the way they were, but over time began building erratically. The most neglected neighborhoods got the brunt of it at first, but eventually she decided that no one should be able to move through the city effectively. She also built up the lowest lying areas – those had remained empty for flood control purposes."

"How long has she been neglecting pegasus and earth ponies?" Glenda asked, scowling down at one of the ruined apartment buildings.

"From shortly after she assumed the throne. Presumably she didn't immediately start into it, but by the time outside alicorns got wind of it she'd already segregated the city. It ah, is actually less segregated now than it was. Not so much due to progress, but because magic using unicorns live on high ground, and everyone else on low."

The prince stumbled into an awkward silence as he tried to come up with something to point out. Moonstruck simply gazed down at the eerie city, letting her eyes wander among the shadows. It wasn't perfectly still; there was a bit of a breeze, and she could see rats darting along walls here and there.

"What was the universities claim to fame?" Moonstruck asked as the question popped up in her mind.

"Ah! Of course! Magic, dragonology, and horticulture – specifically roses." The prince brightened up. "I suppose we should just head down there. There's not much to see here from the air, and well, the only place you don't want to fly is out over the lake, near the tower." He banked, curving back towards the campus. The others followed.

"The University of Bridle-Dur was once one of the shining jewels in the crown of magical universities scattered across the world. We were at the forefront of runic development, and high energy magic usage, and we were the main hub of dragonology. Many powerful ponies came here to study, and make use of our extensive magical library." The prince lifted his head with pride, but then lowered it slightly, frowning. "At least until Mother started restricting foreign visitors and students."

"You wouldn't believe the requirements she started putting on new students! Only Roanamian ponies could come in as undergrads, and she'd only admit graduate and post graduate students under the condition that they would remain in Roanamia for at least ten years after graduating, but with no guarantee of a job." He shook his head. "It ended up working in the universities favor that the friction with the outside world drew her attention away from it, else we likely wouldn't have the library intact. Newspaper articles from the time indicated that she had practically gutted all of the public libraries in the country, stripping them of most high level magic books, and gradually replacing most history books with accounts that she personally approved of."

"She'd been planning this for a while." Moonstruck murmured.

"Yes, we believe so."

They dipped into a shallow dive as they reached the campus grounds, the prince leading them down to a large, central building with blown out stained glass windows. Moonstruck could just make out a great red rose in the remains of the largest window at the very front of the building. A few pegasus were already inside sorting through books. She'd spotted the land-bound ponies a few blocks away.

While Joseph and Glenda shuffled off to eat their rats, Moonstruck slowly spun around to take in the campus. It was beautiful once, full of green spaces, old growth trees, fountains, and climbing roses. She could easily see herself ditching classes here, or TP-ing some of those ancient oaks. Now the plants were long dead aside from the brightly glowing moss, and the fowl smelling algae growing in the putrid pools that were once elegant ponds and fountains. She couldn't place the architectural style, but it was most certainly old. Possibly one of the oldest buildings in the city – or had been. She had no idea if it would reappear on the surface if they managed to get the shield down, or if it would disappear forever.

The unicorn and earth ponies trotted into view, drawing her out of her thoughts. Once regrouped, they started into the library, Joseph and Glenda shouted something about catching up once they were done.

"Okay, group A start looking through what the pegasus have already pulled off the high shelves, group B, start searching the lower shelves. We want shield spells, and anything that might look like it has a spell for discreet power level assessment." Lindsey barked as they reached the appropriate floor.

"Max, are you going to keep searching for more information on Princess Nadia?"

"I may as well." He shrugged. "I think the duchess will be more of use with the spell books."

"Alright. Group C, history section – you know the drill."

"What happened to Princess Nadia?" Moonstruck asked as she started off with groups A and B to start sifting through spellbooks.

"No one knows." Lindsey shook her head. "All we know is that Lucena started going haywire after she died. Max thinks that if he can find out what happened to Nadia, he can figure out why Lucena has done what she's done."

"You don't agree." Moonstruck noted.

"I think it would be fascinating after we get everything sorted out, but for the immediate it isn't very useful." Lindsey sighed.

Moonstruck nodded. They turned down a widely spaced aisle to see books already piled on a large table. Pegasus ponies were perched on top of the high shelves, leaning over the edge to draw books out. They skimmed through them quickly to see if they were worth tossing down to the unicorns below. If this were anywhere but here, the unicorns would be drawing books out with magic, and pegasus would be hovering easily to browse the higher shelves. Here, the unicorns only pulled things a little above eye level.

She pulled a stool up to the table as one of the earth ponies produced a small electric lantern out of one of her packs and set it down in the middle of the table to offer better light. Next she set a wooden tripod on the table, opened up all three legs, then moved it over next to the lantern so that it was well lit. A magnet on a string dangled down through the center of the tripod, spinning slowly from being shoved around.

"That's our timer." The mare said, smiling faintly.

Moonstruck shrugged. "Alright, what do we have so far?"

"These are all shield theory books." Wenchell grunted, lifting a stack of heavy tomes with some effort and setting it down next to her. "They have some weirder spells, as near as we can tell."

Moonstruck let out a long sigh, then pulled the first book off the pile as she fired up her light spell. Although the script was in the common tongue, the book was absolutely ancient, which made reading the actual theory bits difficult. Luckily, from her quick survey of the contents of the book, none of it was anything new to her. It did, however, contain some more complex shield spells that she had never encountered before. After muddling through the archaic wording of the explanations of the spells various functions, she went ahead and cast a few of them on a paperweight to see what, exactly they did.

Although they might prove useful at some point, none of them did what Lucenas shield was doing. Nor could they be altered to do it without a great deal of difficulty, and modern magic theory. Joseph and Glenda wandered in as she slid the first book aside and grabbed the next one.

"Enjoy your meaty meal?" She asked as she opened the dusty cover.

"Yeah, they weren't bad tasting." Joseph grunted.

"I've had better. You want rats that have been eating fruit, or grain." Glenda sniffed.

Joseph chortled. "Where do you need us?"

"Um, top shelf, I guess." Lindsey furrowed her brow. "Do you know what to look for?"

"Not really." Joseph shrugged. "I don't know enough about magic to know what would be useful."

"I'm not an advanced enough reader yet." Glenda ducked her head sheepishly.

"Considering how quickly you've picked it up, you're doing just fine." Joseph rolled his eyes.

"Right." Lindsey frowned. "I guess you can explore or something, or go help Max. He's down in the history section."

Joseph and Glenda exchanged glances.

"I think I may go see what the prince is up to." Glenda said slowly. "I know next to nothing of magic. History is more my speed."

"I'm gonna go sniff around."

"Alright, don't wander too close to the tower, and don't get in the lake." Lindsey nodded. "I can take you down to the history section, Glenda."

"Thank you, dear." Glenda beamed, as Joseph ambled towards the blown out windows.

"Holler if you find something interesting." Moonstruck called absently.

"Will do." Joseph saluted with one hand, then hopped out the largest window.

"I'm kinda surprised you let Glenda go down to help the prince by herself." Wenchell noted after Lindsey and Glenda were out of earshot.

"She can take care of herself." Moonstruck muttered, then paused and looked up. " _Should_ I be worried?"

"Nah." Wenchell shook his head. "Just sayin'."

"I'd be more afraid of Glenda, to be honest." Evee commented from the top of the shelf. "A pegasus doesn't make it to that age without knowing how to mess someone up."

Moonstruck pointed up at Evee and grunted. The others giggled.

"So, what are we looking for, exactly?" Fern asked after a while. "We've been through all of these books before... although no one here can actually cast any of the spells, much less knows what half of this all means." She frowned.

Moonstruck looked up from the hoof-written book in front of her, trying to switch gears enough to formulate a coherent response. "I'm not really sure myself, to be honest. Probably something with an absurdly long and complex equation or algorithm attached to it."

"I don't think we've run across one of those. Shield spells seem to be short on math." Lindsey wrinkled her snout and scowled at the book in front of her.

"Shield spells are nothing _but_ math!" Moonstruck chortled. "These might just be too old for that. Most of the publication dates I've seen put them well before somepony worked out the mathematical components and standardized a core set of spells, upon which, all modern shield spells are built."

She mulled that over for a moment. "What's the _newest_ magic book you have?"

The ponies exchanged glances.

" _Elbrights Guide to Advanced Spellcasting._ " Wenchell said after a beat. "I think I remember where it is." He got up and trotted down the aisle.

"What if it isn't a spell using modern magic?" Lindsey asked. "Or, more recent magic, anyway."

"Then you're probably out of luck. Back in the day, wizards didn't really record their more powerful spells. They'd teach them to any favorite apprentices they might have, but none of it was written down in detail." Moonstruck inclined her snout towards her stack of books. "Even though these seem complex, they're actually pretty basic from a modern context. If Lucena is using an ancient spell, it probably wasn't published widely – if it was published at all."

The others looked crestfallen.

"We don't need to know _exactly_ how it works, just how to disrupt it." Moonstruck added hastily.

Wenchell returned with an especially large tome that was perhaps only a little over a thousand years old – far newer than many of the other books scattered around the table. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Moonstruck accepted the book and set it down in front of herself. Opening it, she skimmed over the table of contents, then flipped to the section on shield spells. She recalled reading a much later edition of _Elbrights Guide_ during her magical education. It was more of a broad overview of advanced spells, but it did cover teleporting and shield projections extensively. It also had some basic nodestone spells, though most of her nodestone knowledge came from her father, whom made a career out of taking an old trick and using it in new and novel ways.

This edition was more sparse on shield theory, and it was even missing a few pages here and there. She wondered if the missing pages had anything to do with Lucenas adventures in monster-shield crafting, or if it was all just a coincidence. She closed the book and tapped her hoof on the table as the others watched her expectantly. What she wouldn't give to hit the Trot City Library right about now...

"Okay, maybe we should shift gears a little, and try looking for books that explain how to set up an alternate power source for a shield."

The ponies exchanged glances, then began sifting through their piles. The pegasus overhead started putting some books back, while pulling others out. Moonstruck went back to her pile of books, setting aside the more ancient ones that lacked any sort of table of contents. She'd need to browse through them more carefully later.

She was beginning to wonder if Lucena actually had stumbled across an old spell. With her insistence that alicorns were gods, she might have found a treasure trove of ancient magical techniques that would allow her to do things no alicorn has been able to do for eons – or at least look like she is. Of all the alicorns born in the last four or five thousand years, Celestia, Luna, and arguably her mother have been the most powerful. That's three truly near-god level alicorns in a pretty big stretch of time. According to the lore, in ancient times alicorns were wielders of immense elemental magic, but that was so obscenely long ago that nopony knew for certain if the stories were true or merely old mares tales. The reality was that while an exceptionally powerful alicorn might come along every once and a while, for the most part they were about as varied as the common ponies when it came to abilities and specialization.

Moonstruck frowned as she flipped through a few more pages of the book in front of her. No. This wasn't some sort of ancient elemental magic. It was a complex spell that had a clear methodology to it. No matter how powerful a pony was, one could not summon a shield like this through sheer force of will, much less maintain it for a thousand years. There _had_ to be a way to unravel it. They just needed to find a loose thread.

"I think I found a way to check power levels..." One of the unicorns piped up from the other end of the table.

Moonstruck looked up from the book she'd been staring at (but not reading), then hustled around to the unicorn in question, as the others piled around to see.

"What'cha got?"

"Um, it's..." She tapped the page. "You can enchant an object that will change color depending on power level. So... I guess, if you could get the queen to pick something up, you'd be able to go by what color it turns? But she'd probably be able to see it to so maybe it won't work..."

Moonstruck flicked her eyes over the spell. It was a more modern spell, which meant it had a fair bit of math involved, but most of it was determining what colors corresponded to what amount of power – which was fairly simple all and all.

"This will work." Moonstruck nodded. "I know how to mask the results so that only I could see them. Good find! Er... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Jessica." The unicorn blushed as the others erupted into excited chatter.

"Jessica!" Moonstruck patted her on the back, then pulled a pad of paper out of one of her saddlebags. "Lemme just jot this down 'cause I assume you can't take anything out of here..."

"Oh, no we can't." Jessica shook her head.

"Can you leave a book mark?" Moonstruck asked as she scribbled down the spell.

"That we can do." Lindsey answered, sliding over a piece of paper that looked like it can come out of a different book. "Some of the books were partially destroyed, so we use the pages as bookmarks."

"Right, take nothing, leave nothing." Moonstruck nodded. She finished up, then retreated back to her seat to fiddle with the paperweight a bit. It took her about an hour to get the spell right. Her once relatively neat sheet of paper was covered in notes, since the spell didn't seem to quite work as written, although it could be because of some sort of distortion down here. She'd have to fiddle with it more topside.

The day went by surprisingly quickly. While they found two more spells that could discreetly check power levels, nothing seemed promising on the shield front. It was too soon to tell, but Moonstruck wondered if Lucena had already pulled any pertinent books out of the university library, perhaps long before she put her plans in to action. Books got lost all the time, it would be pretty easy to make it disappear – especially if it was something obscure that wasn't in high demand.

She was just about to ask where the card catalog was, when the room abruptly went dead silent. Moonstruck leaned around the book shelf she was currently rifling through to see all of the ponies staring in small horror at the magnet dangling from its tripod. It was spinning. Quickly.

"It's early today." Someone muttered.

And then everyone began putting things away, stowing notebooks and munchies in packs, putting books back on shelves, cleaning up any semblance of a mess.

"Time to go." Lindsey said, noticing her confusion. "We can come back in the morning and pick up where we left off."

Moonstruck scowled, but shrugged and slid the books she'd had half way off the shelf back to their resting places. Then she called up Josephs nodestone.

"I guess we're leaving." She said softly.

"What? Already?" He asked, voice crackling over their magical link. It was probably the distortion down here.

"Yeah, come on back, everyone's kinda freaked..."

Somewhere out in the city, a bell rang out. A large bell, like at a chapel. All motion ceased as the ponies paused to stare out the broken windows. At the stroke of three, they began moving even faster.

"Was that you ringing that?" Moonstruck asked, trotting over to her piles and shoving things back into her saddlebags.

"Nope. Was that one of you guys?"

"Don't think so."

"Interesting. I'll be there in a minute or two."

"Good. Meet you in the courtyard." Moonstruck severed the link, then gathered up the books she'd pulled herself to put back on the shelves.

By the time she returned, everyone else was ready. She pulled her saddle bags on, then fell in with the group as they trotted out to the grand sweeping staircases that led down to the ground floor. The princes group appeared from a door down below, looking hurried and fearful as well.

"Is Joseph back yet?" He asked as they came within earshot. "I don't know what will happen if he decides to linger past dark but ponies shouldn't remain!"

"He's on his way." Moonstruck grunted as the two groups merged into one, Glenda falling into step beside her.

The prince nodded. "Spotters, three block radius, please."

A half dozen pegasus nodded and picked up the pace, bounding into the air as soon as they were out the doors. Joseph was just settling into the courtyard, looking around suspiciously.

"See anything weird?" Moonstruck asked as they moved past him.

"Lots." He grunted. "I'm surprised this place has its own weather."

"Really?"

"The fog was rolling in? Where!?" The prince barked, whirling around to trot backwards.

"Uh, off thattaway." Joseph jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the neighborhood beyond the university.

"This is entirely too early." Wenchell hissed, looking around suspiciously.

"Maybe we just lost track of time?" Fern grimaced. "We can't exactly use watches or anything down here."

"Alright, quiet down. We need to make it back to the catwalk pronto." Lindsey whispered harshly. "Eyes forward, keep low."

Moonstruck, Joseph and Glenda exchanged glances. There couldn't be something – or someone living down here, could there? Aside from the rats, anyway.

The fog began to overtake them a minute or so later, rolling out from behind them and along the ground. Their legs whipped it up as it oozed in around them, reminding Moonstruck of the layers of thick graveyard fog that clung to fields in autumn, but with an odd, sickly wetness to it, instead of merely a cool damp. Up ahead, the prince kept his eye on the pegasus overhead. Occasionally they would signal with a few hoof signs, prompting him to lead them down a different street.

They were passing through an intersection when Moonstruck spotted motion out of the corner of her eye. Intuitively she glanced over to get a better look, then felt her blood run cold as her body came to a stop of its own accord.

There was a pony standing six blocks away. Though it was too far to see it clearly, Moonstruck knew it was staring at them. At her, specifically. She could feel it at the edge of her senses; an insistent, fleeting flicker of awareness and emptiness mingled with a cold and sorrowful hunger that sent a chill down her spine and made her fur stand on end.

It was not alive, she knew. But nor was it dead.

She felt strangely compelled to go to it, but she resisted, even as the chill crept into her bones, and she could faintly see her breath frosting in the air that was rapidly turning colder and colder around her. The fog managed to feel inexplicably heavy around her hooves, but it flowed off towards the distant creature, as if trying to draw her towards it.

"Mooney!" Someone shook her shoulder.

Moonstruck sucked in a sharp breath and turned to see Joseph looking at her with great concern. The cold dissipated, the fog returned to it's damp state. She blinked a few times then turned her head to see that the rest of the group had crossed the intersection, and were huddled in the shadow of a building, staring at her with wide eyes.

When she looked back down the street, the creature was gone as if it had never been.

"How long was I out?" She croaked.

"Only a minute." Joseph sighed.

She nodded, swallowed hard, then put her head down and trotted to catch up to the rest, Joseph loping along beside her.

"You're lucky, usually they, er... draw ponies out more." The prince grimaced.

"To their dooms, I'd imagine." Moonstruck frowned. "What was that?"

"We don't know."

"And we don't want to know, lets get out of here!" Lindsey hissed.

This was a very popular opinion. They set off again at a swift trot, winding their way through the curiously darkening neighborhoods. The glow of the moss didn't seem to fade to create this effect – indeed, if anything it seemed to become more intense. Moonstruck realized that the moss likely wasn't what was actually illuminating the underground city. It was like a lamp in daylight. You could see that the bulb was glowing, but the sun was still far brighter. Now that the "sun" was going down, the moss seemed more intense without all of the competition.

It was downright dark by the time they reached the catwalk, and the moss all around them was the most intense blue Moonstruck had ever seen. She didn't spend any time investigating it; there was motion everywhere in the deeper shadows. The creatures kept their distance, but it was only a matter of time before they became more bold. Luckily, the historical society was already bolting up the stairs.

"So, was this catwalk here when you found the place, or did you install it?" She asked as they reached the top.

"It was here. We think part of this wall was part of a warehouse district on the hills that once stood here, but it... I don't know what happened to it. The catwalk and the freight elevator are the only parts we can access, but there are points in the city where you can see how it used to look." The prince shrugged. "I can show you next time, if you'd like."

Moonstruck shrugged as well. "Just curious. Seems convenient."

"It does." He chuckled. "We wondered about that ourselves, when we first stumbled across this place."

Once everyone had piled into the elevators, and the headcount came back with the proper amount of ponies (plus one dragon) they closed the rear doors, then opened the front ones. Light spells were fired up, then they filed back out into the hallway.

"Find anything useful?" Glenda asked once they were a few minutes away from the elevator.

"Yeah, a couple of spells." Moonstruck nodded. "What was that weird stuff you saw, Joseph?"

"Oh, there's a couple of chunks of broken space down there. One on the campus, and a great big one around the tower. Really, that cavern is more of a fragmented crescent than a whole space." He scratched his jaw. "Though as near as I can tell most of the fragments are just in slightly different times, so you don't really notice when you pass through them."

"Ah, yes, the area on campus was the high energy magic building. We haven't been able to get close enough to it to investigate it. Keep getting sent in circles." The prince piped up, shaking his head. "Bad things tend to happen around the lake and tower, so we avoid it."

"Smart move." Joseph nodded. "I might be able to get through there, but even I can sense how dense the magic is, so I'm not gonna risk it."

"More dense than back in the crystal mines?"

"Eh... I don't know. More concentrated maybe." Joseph scowled.

Moonstruck shrugged. Seemed logical. Her mind flashed back to the creature in the street. "But really, what was that thing? Ghost? Zombie?"

"Both? Neither?" Lindsey sighed. "We haven't tried to get close enough to find out. All we know is that if they catch you out in the open by yourself they'll lead you in to the lake."

"Have they ever managed to get anyone?" Glenda gulped.

"They've come close." The prince shuddered. "We used to explore in smaller groups, but after a few ponies almost got dragged into the lake, we started moving in larger groups, and limiting our time down there. Mostly we just go straight to the university anymore."

"We've got the timing down now, and we know not to go near the lake, so it's usually okay to wander off by yourself for a bit." Lindsey added.

"Except for today." Moonstruck grunted.

"Yes, that was very strange. It doesn't usually do that." The prince grimaced. "It's impossible to get a precise read on the time elapsed in there, but generally if we can get down there before seven, we can stay for a full eight hours in the university before 'night', and we typically even have about an hour of 'evening' to make our way out before it becomes dangerous."

"How can you tell it's eight hours?" Joseph furrowed his brow.

"My grandmas carrot and parsnip soup recipe. It's a slow cooker, and it always tastes best after it's been simmering on low for eight hours." Fern giggled. "So we put the soup together, took it down to the university, and cooked it on a hot plate. We taste-tested it every so often to see if it was ready yet. It was done right about the time we needed to leave."

"Awesome!" Moonstruck quipped.

"So what was it you found?" The prince asked.

"Jessica found 'em actually. A couple of discreet power level assessment spells." Moonstruck wrinkled her snout. "I'm gonna need to mess with 'em topside to find out how much I need to tweak 'em. They weren't working quite right as-written when I tried casting them down in the library."

"Ah, of course, of course." The prince nodded. "Anything pertaining to shield spells?"

"Nothing useful." Moonstruck frowned. "That's probably gonna take a _lot_ of digging."

"Was afraid of that." The prince grimaced.

Unlike the trip down to the university, the trip out only seemed to take two or three circuits up the hallways and stairwells. They were back in the room with the pump equipment in short order, and back out in the storm drains a few minutes after that.

"Same time tomorrow?" She asked once they were back in the drains.

"Yup." Lindsey nodded.

They parted ways once they were out in the main part of the storm drains, Moonstruck teleporting she, Joseph and Glenda to their maintenance entrance, as the historical society trekked back to their base.

It didn't occur to her until later, when she was fiddling with the spells after lunch, that their time spent down in the university was essentially adding an extra day, to their day. Joseph and Glenda were already sprawled across the furniture asleep, and she was having a hard time staying awake herself. She stared at the clock for a few moments. It was after noon, which meant...

"No wonder I can't get any of this right, been awake for fourteen hours or something." She muttered to herself. She cleaned up her mess, stashed it in the wardrobe, then flopped on her bed. Maybe this was part of why the prince was so dour when she saw him at various events. It wasn't just dealing with his mother (and/or Eira and the various barons), nor that he was leading a double life – it was a double life with a time distortion that meant a full days work could easily top twenty four hours. Dour might be the best he could manage.

She awoke a few hours later to Joseph and Glenda puttering around out in the living room, and resumed her spell-tinkering. The first spell that Jessica found seemed to be the most solid one, and the easiest to alter to suit their needs. Moonstruck just needed to figure out a way to get the queen to pick up an enchanted object for it to work. She tested it out on herself a few times to work out the color coding. She decided to go with a typical fire-color scale. Dark red being the lowest level, and blue-white being the highest.

The pencil she had enchanted as a guinea pig glowed a bright, light yellow when she poked it. A hotter fire, but not the hottest by any means. Glenda could hardly get a reaction out of it, and Joseph made it glow faintly purple, which was not supposed to be in the spells designated color range, but it also wasn't really designed to measure dragon magic. She'd have to test it on more ponies later to work out any bugs.

For the immediate, she needed to go out into the city to see if she could round up the last of Glendas gear.


	26. Chapter 25

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

The next morning they rolled out of bed for another long day of scouring the library. The labor division was as the day before; Moonstruck went with Lindseys group to search for shield spells, Joseph went poking around out in the city, and Glenda lurked around in the history section with the prince and his group. Moonstruck decided that skimming through books might be more efficient than carefully picking through each one, since most of the books they had found were so archaic.

It would help if they knew where to start looking. _Really_ looking, that is. One would think shield spell books would be the most obvious point of of entry, but the library seemed to posses few shield spell _specific_ books, and what ones they did were more broad overviews – nothing terribly advanced. If the specialized books didn't have what they were after, it had to be tucked away in a general spellbook.

There were a _lot_ of general spellbooks. Eighty percent of the magical library was comprised of general spellbooks. The magic section alone took up an entire floor. And the historical society had already searched it a dozen times over.

Of course, all of this hinged on Lucena having _found_ the spell – or at least the base of the spell, instead of cooking it up herself from scratch.

Moonstruck nearly choked on her sandwich as she realized the oversight they were making. She hastily scarfed down the rest of her lunch, took a long drink of water from her canteen, then got up.

"I just realized something, be back in a few minutes."

The others looked at her funny, but nodded as she spun and trotted down the aisle, then to the balcony overlooking the central staircase. She didn't bother with circling around to the stairs, she simply hopped over the rail and opened her wings. She let herself fall to within a high jump of the second story, then teleported to the loft. The history section occupied half of the second story. She could hear ponies chatting among themselves as they searched the shelves. She trotted around to where they were, spotting Glenda in a knot of pegasus, curiously looking at the pictures of an old farmers almanac. She glanced up.

"Something up?" Glenda asked.

"Not yet. Do you know where the prince is?"

"Over there, I think." One of the ponies pointed off to the left. "Two rows down."

Moonstruck grunted and nodded before trotting down another couple of aisles. The prince was indeed there, absently chewing on a pencil eraser as he flipped through a stack of ancient newspapers. A few pegasus browsed the highest shelf from the top of the book cases, but otherwise he was alone.

"Hey quick question."

He jumped slightly, dropped the pencil, then looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Aside from being able to control dragons, what's your moms magical specialization?"

He considered this for a few moments, scowling slightly. "Fire spells, I suppose. Why do you ask?"

"How is she at cooking up or modifying spells?"

He gave her a funny look. "I... don't know, to be honest."

"Mm. I just realized that unless your mother is an expert on shield spells and/or very good at improvising, she would probably need to have found the spell for this shield pretty much ready to go."

He sat up a little straighter. "I had not considered that. And now that you mention it, I don't know why that hadn't occurred to any of us before..." he grimaced, "although our magical knowledge is limited at best so we somewhat hoped the spell was _here,_ but we simply didn't recognize it due to that limit."

"The selection of shield spell books is kind of light for a magical university library this size." Moonstruck grimaced.

The prince swore under his breath. "Her personal library – I bet she has the spell – or spells - in her personal library."

"We're not going to find anything here." Moonstruck shook her head.

The prince stamped a hoof hard and let out a low growl, the first remotely draconic thing she'd seen (or heard) him do. "I have access to her library – I might even have handled the book myself – no. No, she doesn't trust me enough for that, she probably has it hidden somewhere."

"I would have memorized it, then destroyed it." Moonstruck frowned.

"She might have done that, too." The prince scowled even harder, then growled again. "I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea. Its too risky to spend a full day down here, I've just put everyone in danger."

"Well, at least we found some discreet power level checking spells." Moonstruck sighed. "That's pretty useful. If your mother is out of power – and she _should_ be, by all rights – you should be able to use that to your advantage."

The prince let out a short breath, and nodded. "Yes, there is that, at least. Although I doubt we could force her to drop the shield. I'm quite certain she'd summon Magmanus long before giving in to any demands we may make."

"If she can even do that." Moonstruck shrugged.

"She can." The prince said flatly.

"So, are we coming back tomorrow then?" One of the pegasus on top of the shelves asked.

"I don't know. I suppose we don't have much reason to." The prince frowned. "I've hit a dead end with Princess Nadia as well."

He pushed the newspapers aside and rested his chin on the table.

Moonstruck stared past him as a dark shape flickered past the windows. Unless there was a large-ish flying creature down here that no one had noticed before, it looked like Joseph had just returned.

"I suppose we should call it a day." The prince grumbled. He lifted his head off the table and gathered up all the newspapers he'd been sifting through. The pegasus on the top shelves shrugged and began putting books back. Moonstruck turned around and headed back towards Glenda and the others. They were browsing through the books now, Glenda had found a picture book of some sort and was curiously studying the illustrations contained within.

"I guess we're calling it quits for the day." Moonstruck grunted as she ambled over to see what Glenda had found. It was a field guide to hiking trails around Roanamia, and there were some very lavish paintings of the mountains.

"This is what it used to be like." Glenda murmured as she turned the page. The next page had a picture of Waterfall Castle in its former glory, nestled among towering pines, and perched precariously on the edge of a cliff with the waterfall of its namesake roaring out of an ornately carved opening at the base of the castle. Next to it was the crest of the family that occupied the castle; a branch of house Rosegard going by the rose motif. It was a yellow rose flanked by rearing pegasus on a field of bright blue.

"Cool!"

Moonstruck turned as she heard claws clicking across the floor, as opposed to the clip-clop of hooves. Joseph slid to a stop and held up a small book.

"I dunno much about magic, but I know what this is." He grinned.

Moonstruck felt her jaw drop open as she stared at the cover. There was no title, just a cutie mark that was familiar to anyone whom had studied magic in the last two thousand years. There was even a little bit of silver foil left in some of the stars.

"A Starswirl the Bearded book here!?" She yelped, taking the book from him and flipping through it. "Where'd you find this?"

"Over in some apartments on the edge of the university. It was sorta wedged behind a bed frame." Joseph inclined his snout towards the wall side of the cavern, away from the tower.

"Looks like a journal."

It was indeed a journal. A journal written by Starswirl himself. The other ponies slowed in their re-shelving as she plopped it down on the nearest table and fired up her light spell. Even with the extra light the book was difficult to read. It wasn't just a journal, it was a _personal_ journal, and written in Old Ponish to boot (something she was forced to learn, and never thought would be useful). Starswirl was known to have terrible horn-writing when writing formally, but when rambling to himself it was especially bad. It was dated from before Discord, and seemed to hold the thoughts of the wizard as he and several others spent time at the Magic University.

Despite involving young Celestia, Lucena, Astromida, Luna, and the lost Princess Nadia, the entries were amazingly mundane. What he had for lunch, lectures he attended, lectures he held, anecdotes, occasional equations or partial spells scribbled down in the margins, the odd doodle. For a Starswirl the Bearded historian this was a treasure, but for her purposes, it wasn't useful in the slightest.

At least, until she flipped to the last quarter of the book. She slowly sat, as she read the first passage in one entry.

 _I was awoken last night at just past two o'clock in the morning by an explosion in the High Energy Magic Building. The dormitories are on the opposite side of the campus from the potentially dangerous sections of the university, so it was quite the explosion! It rocked the very foundations of the university, and possibly the entire city, though the only damage was to the High Energy Building's tower, where the blast originated._

 _I was instructed to stay in my room, but curiosity got the better of me, and I soon found myself amongst the faculty, fire brigade, and more powerful students to help clear out the rubble and search for survivors. The magic field around the High Energy Magic building is always heavy, but it was downright oppressive in and around the remains of the tower._

 _It was quickly determined that three ponies had died in the blast. Professor Buttonbeau – the shield spell expert – and his two grad student assistants; Umbrella Snap, and Bubbleloft. Seven more had been injured in the blast, including two groundskeepers whom had been pruning some of the invincible ivy that grows on the High Energy Magic Building that can apparently only be pruned after midnight otherwise it cannot be cut (something to do with being warped by the dense magic around the building, I am told). Their physical injuries are relatively minor all things considered, but, their magical injuries are of a most distressing nature._

 _The four ponies closest to the blast have had their cutie marks... scrambled, for the lack of a better term. Their marks have been shuffled among them; which has left them in a state of extreme confusion. The ponies further away – including the two earth pony groundskeepers - seem to have lost their cutie marks entirely, and in the case of the unicorn student, her connection to magic of any sort._

 _Thus far, we have not been able to determine the source of the explosion. The epicenter is largely intact, and the only spell on the chalkboard was a powerful shield spell. While there was a mistake in the calculation of the Z-axis, a misfiring spell of that nature should not have resulted in an explosion so large, nor in the strange effects it had on the surrounding ponies. Though it is not unusual for scholars to work long into the night, I must wonder what in blazes Professor Buttonbeau was working on in the wee hours of the morning._

Moonstruck swallowed hard as she turned the page, too many things were starting to line up for her to fully process what she was reading. She skimmed over another detailed examination of lunch, then focused on a more pertinent passage.

 _As for the blast victims; while they have recovered from their physical injuries, their magical ailments are becoming more pronounced. The ponies with the scrambled cutie marks have essentially moved in to each others lives, taking on the roles their new cutie marks signify, and they seem largely unaware that they have never preformed these tasks before, though there is a general sense of unease amongst them. The transition has not been smooth, to say the least._

 _The ponies who had their marks erased are faring better, insomuch that they are not trying to do something they are simply ill suited for, but they are spiritually lost, and suffering from a concerning malaise. By Princess Celestias suggestion; they are to be moved to a pleasant estate out of the city to recover, and hopefully remember what it is that made them unique, and perhaps re-earn their cutie marks in the process._

 _Princess Lucena has been placed in charge of puzzling out the source of the explosion. Myself, and Princess' Celestia, Luna and Astromida have been charged with restoring the four ponies to their natural states. It is a daunting task, especially as our oracle is as reluctant as ever to give any direct insight into their condition. All she will do is confirm that Princess Celestia's hunch is correct; friendship is the key. But she will elaborate no further._

 _Astromida is a most vexing mare, I must say._

Moonstruck snorted a laugh at the last line, then skimmed past a few more unimportant bits which took up several pages. The next passage was short, only mentioning that the cutie mark-less ponies were doing well at the country estate, and seemed to be gaining their old spark back. Most everyone seemed to agree that they would recover on their own in time. The next page had a bit of water damage, though it was still legible. A few pages of rambling later, Moonstruck felt a chill creep down her spine as her eyes darted across the entry. It started out with Starswirl speculating about cutie marks, and destiny, and how he was having difficulty constructing a spell to try to correct what happened, so he'd perhaps try to recreate what had happened in the explosion, but then...

"M-Moonstruck? Are you okay?"

She glanced up at Glenda, Joseph, and the various ponies in the aisle – including the Prince whom seemed to have wandered over to see what the hub-bub was over here.

"You're pale as a ghost." Glenda said.

"I... I should start at the beginning." Moonstruck grunted and flipped back to the night of the explosion. She briefly explained who Starswirl the Bearded was, then dove into the ongoing saga of the ponies with the scrambled cutie marks. After a few minutes, she reached the passage she had left off on. She was mildly surprised she remembered enough Old Ponish to do a pretty decent on-the-fly translation, though admittedly she'd always had a knack for languages.

"The ponies who lost their cutie marks entirely have fully recovered on their own. At first we had all assumed that this was simply a matter of time, and the tendency for magic to correct itself, but we now know that it was actually due to their distance from the epicenter of the blast. We would not have known this if Princess Luna and I had not been examining the blast site in search of any residual spells that might shed light on what precisely had gone wrong. When Princess Luna entered a trance to examine every last shred of magic that was flying around the tower, she realized that the miscalculation in the shield spell on the chalkboard had not been a mistake after all, and that the shield itself was still in place, and distorting magic around it!

"Curiously, ponies can still come and go from the area, and nopony has suffered any ill effects since. But the spell is there, still active – even though its caster has died. We suspect that the spell on the chalkboard had merely been part of a larger spell, and it perhaps had other calculation oddities that were less obvious at a glance. When we asked Princess Lucena if she had located any copies of the spell around the room, she said she did not. When we requested to examine the chalkboard again, she refused, saying that any evidence they removed from the scene was now strictly confidential. She also warned us away from Professor Buttonbeau's private work, as it was now considered evidence as well. She did not seem interested in helping the four unicorns at all."

"Plans have been made to bring the four unicorns back to Canterlot with us, so that I may continue to work on the spell to restore them their destinies, as our time in Bridle-Dur is drawing quickly to a close. Winter will soon be upon us, and Princess Lucena is growing increasingly intolerant of our presence. Princess Nadia assures us that she will keep us up-to-date."

Moonstruck finished the entry and gingerly turned the pages; the water damage here was even worse, and it was becoming less and less legible.

"This is sounding very, very familiar." Joseph noted, stating the obvious.

"I wonder if Mother..." The prince murmured.

"She knew full well what was going on." Moonstruck growled. "She might have even been behind it. She's certainly behind it now."

She shook her head and flipped through the last few pages. The final pages of the book had no writing in them at all. She wondered if Starswirl had forgotten the journal here, or been forced to leave it behind. "I can't make any more of this out."

"Where did you find that book?" The prince asked, trotting over to take a look at it himself. "I've never seen it before."

"Joseph found it on the outskirts of the university. Probably in the dorms." Moonstruck took a step back to let him get a better look.

The prince glanced up in alarm. "You got into the dorms?"

"Yeah." Joseph shrugged.

"We haven't been able to. At least, not consistently."

Moonstruck and Joseph exchanged glances, then she turned to look at the "clock" the ponies on this floor were using. "How much time do we have left?"

"Uh... probably three or four hours." One unicorn scowled. "Things are pretty normal today. Or, normal for here anyway."

"I think we need to go check out the High Energy Magic Building."

"Oh no, it's impossible. The distortion is too severe." The prince shook his head.

Joseph grinned. "I'm gonna take that as a challenge."

Moonstruck grinned as well, and exchanged glances with Glenda, whom was already getting up. She summoned her saddlebags and notebooks down to her, then they were out of the aisle and down the stairs. A thunder of hooves pulled their attention around as they descended the front steps.

"I uh, have most everyone searching the newspapers for accounts around the time this Starswirl fellow was in Roanamia with the princesses." The prince panted as he and Lindsey slid to a stop on the landing above.

"Guess coming down here wasn't such a waste of time after all." Moonstruck grunted. She nodded to Joseph, and he set off at a trot towards the High Energy Magic Building; the broken tower of which was just visible above the buildings in the near distance. They wove their way through the wrack and ruin, avoiding putrid pools, and the less stable looking buildings.

"T-take a left up here. There's a building up ahead that is sort of the boundary between the rest of the campus, and the High Energy Magic Building." The prince said as they approached.

Joseph nodded and took a left at the next intersection. About three hundred yards down the side street, he took a right. The building in question was at the end of a blind alley. They fluttered up to the roof as they approached, Max levitating Lindsey along with him. They stopped at the peak of the roof.

"This is the closest we can get." The prince nodded and inclined his snout to the vast, empty courtyard ahead, beyond which stood the broken and burnt ruins of the High Energy Magic Building. The building stood apart from all others in the center of a wide circle. The circle was split between courtyard and what had once been greensward. Moonstruck could easily picture ponies lounging out in the grass that used to grow there, studying or playing frisbee or hackey-sack. Unlike every other building she'd seen down here, this building was completely dark; no magic moss grew upon it, turning it into a shadowy, foreboding smudge among the blue glow.

"What'cha got?" She asked Joseph.

"I think I see a way in." He lunged off the roof, pumped his wings hard to gain speed, tweaked his tail fins to snap up and to the right, then tucked his wings and dove. He hit the distortion and splintered off in a dozen directions at once for a scant second before he disappeared entirely.

"Oh ho, that looks weird from out here." Moonstruck chuckled, as Glenda, Lindsey and the prince gaped in horror.

"Is – what just happened!?" Lindsey yelped.

"Relax, he just popped into a gap in the distortion." Moonstruck waved a hoof vaguely. "Basically when magic breaks like this it leaves... cracks in reality. Joseph can find the edges, and use them to navigate."

"So... those were reflections? Like he just passed by a broken mirror." Glenda mused.

"Kinda."

"How does he find them?" The prince asked.

"He can just sense them. At least, when there's dragon magic involved. I think he's just gotten so good at it that he can find 'em even without dragon magic. I mean, he's lived out in the distorted areas beyond the crest of the mountains for years." Moonstruck shrugged. "It still confuses the heck outta me."

"Oh." The prince scowled. "There's dragon magic everywhere here. I'm so used to it I don't even think about it."

Moonstruck nodded. She shifted her weight and looked back towards the library. One of the pegasus would come find them if they found something promising, but she was tempted to go back and continue searching. It was probably better that she stuck around here. If Joseph found a way in quickly enough, only she and the prince could accompany him – Lindsey and Glenda likely couldn't make it in without getting lost and confused – even with the three of them there to lead the way. She shifted her gaze upwards to the distant tower looming in the black lake. She stirred suddenly, shaking herself and half turning to look at the prince.

"Have you ever gone into a trance to take a look at the tower?"

"Uh... no?" He gave her a puzzled look.

She scowled at him. "You know, when you go to access your full power you can see forever and all that?"

He continued to stare quizzically at her.

"Oh wow, no one ever taught you that." Moonstruck shook her head. "Sorry, dunno what I was thinking. I'll take a look, then."

She flinched slightly at the idea, since the last time she'd tried it things hadn't gone so well. She was only going to look around real quick, so it probably wouldn't backfire again. She hoped. Closing her eyes, she quieted her mind and let out a long, slow breath, bowing her head as she did so, trying to attain that fleeting feeling of absolute stillness. Thankfully the others remained silent while she did so, which simplified things. She wasn't sure how long she sat quietly in her own mind, but it seemed quicker than usual to find that chest that contained all her power. She hesitantly opened it a crack.

It was all there, still thrumming with the cosmos precisely as it should. Content that she hadn't done any serious damage to herself back in the crystal mines, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. The underground city was curiously normal, magically speaking. Magic flowed through it as it did in most any other place, a particularly dense sort of dragon magic mixed in with it. There was distortion here and there, as Joseph had discovered, but none of it seemed particularly bad. There seemed to be somewhat less magic than there should be. Actually, there was quite a bit less. Most of it seemed to be flowing towards the base of the tower, which was easily as densely packed with magic as the crystals back in the mines. The High Energy Magic Building was...

"Huh."

"What?"

"It's like the High Energy Magic building isn't even there." Moonstruck muttered

"Um... how?"

"There's..." How did she describe this? "...a void. Where the building should be. Magically speaking. It's completely devoid of magic."

She shook her head and closed her eyes, and the lid of her power as she felt pressure start to build up between her ears.

"That makes no sense. We know there's magic there!" The prince shook his head "There has to be? Why else would it be so weird over there?"

"Oh, there's magic there, I just can't see any of it." Moonstruck opened her eyes. "Which means..." she frowned. "I don't know what it means. I'll have to take a look once we're inside."

"If we can get inside." Lindsey muttered. She wrinkled her nose.

"We can get in. You and Glenda probably can't." Moonstruck shrugged. "If that's anything like the foothills around the Broken Mountains, you'll just get confused. Alicorns seem to be able to get through it, with help." And one pegasus by accident, she added silently to herself.

"You're gonna stay here and wait for us."

"Oh."

"Fine by me." Glenda grunted.

"Is that the plan?" The prince asked. "What if Joseph takes too long? Or he can't find a way in?"

"He'll find a way. Eventually." Moonstruck shrugged. "It's a small area, so unless it's extra broken up, or there's an entire pocket reality or something tucked away in there, it shouldn't take him long."

The prince nodded. He shifted his wings a little. "How long do we wait for?"

"Good question." Moonstruck scowled. They were on a strict timeframe down here, so they couldn't sit around waiting for Joseph for very long. And if he wasn't back by "night time" they might be forced to leave without him. If those creatures were anything like the memories they'd encountered out in the foothills, it was possible they wouldn't pay him any mind. Moonstruck wasn't particularly keen on leaving the dragon behind, but she couldn't think of a better solution.

Just as she was opening her mouth to suggest giving Joseph about an hour, he reappeared; trotting out of the courtyard ahead. She pricked her ears up as he continued all the way up to the building they were on, then circled to the opposite side before fluttering up to the roof.

"No problem. It's about as big as it should be in there, and the cracks are easy to spot." He said as he made his way up the roof to them. "I went ahead and found multiple ways in and out, and made sure nothing was alive in there. Seems to be a slight time distortion, but time moves faster in there than it does out here, so we can explore it without wasting much time overall."

"You are the best recon guy, ever." Moonstruck beamed. She fanned her wings. "So we're good to go?"

"Yup."

"How do you know there's a time distortion?" Lindsey asked.

"By the way my head kinda went all mushy when I left the broken area." Joseph scratched his chin. "To me it seemed like I'd been in there for over an hour, but you guys were just perched up here like you hadn't been waiting very long at all."

"Roughly twenty minutes." The prince supplied.

Joseph nodded. "Easiest way to get in is the way I went in initially."

"Alright."

"We'll be back." Moonstruck told Glenda.

"Good luck."

"Follow behind me as close as you can, and do as I do." Joseph said, more to the princes benefit than hers.

The dragon sprung off the roof, the alicorns close behind; leaving Glenda and Lindsey scowling at the apex of the tile roof. Moonstruck felt bad leaving them there, but she didn't want to risk them getting lost. They needed someone outside in case the others found something, anyway.

She matched Josephs speed easily, and stayed just a few feet behind his tail. She had to admit, having larger wings made it considerably easier to keep up with the dragon; and she'd found she could even soar as well, which made flying in general far less tiring. If this strange change was permanent, she'd probably be one of the best long distance fliers in the world, and likely one of the fastest divers considering how much heavier she was than most other ponies. She'd lost a lot of weight on this trip, but also gained a lot of muscle. Draft-type pegasus were not particularly common, but they were usually extremely fast divers. Draft-type alicorns were... well, she was probably the only one, aside from the prince who could be considered draft-type, in a way. Alicorns were usually tall and lean – even the stallions.

Joseph snapped up to the right, she followed, swooped into a dive after him, looped into a barrel roll, then landed in the courtyard after the dragon. She shook static out of her fur, mane, and feathers as she trotted after him for a few paces to give the prince room to land. He did so with a rather loud thud. Moonstruck half turned, and bit back a laugh. He'd somehow managed to belly flop on the ancient cobblestones.

"You okay?" She giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He growled, climbing to his cloven hooves, and folding his leathery black wings. He squinted behind himself. "The ground appeared more suddenly than I anticipated."

"Sorry, probably shoulda went slower." Joseph scratched the back of his head.

He shook his head. "It's fine. I need to work on my flying. Can't say I'm particularly challenged in the skies here."

"Yeah, we should probably whip everyone into shape, now that Glenda's got her strength back." Moonstruck nodded, turning and sauntering after Joseph. "We'll probably need every flier to be in peak condition when the day comes."

"Yes, and every magic user proficient in both combat and basic healing magic."

It was profoundly silent in the area around the High Energy Magic Building, and despite being abandoned for over a thousand years, the energy field around it was indeed heavy. Moonstruck wasn't sure if this was due to the distortion, or something else. The indestructible ivy was still growing; it had largely taken over the building and it seemed to be the only thing keeping the remains of the tower standing.

"Is it safe to explore in there?" The prince whispered, voicing her unspoken thought.

"Safe enough. I wouldn't try shouting, or crashing through walls or anything." Joseph muttered.

They continued on in silence, following the dragon as he carefully threaded his way through the distortion on this side of the shield. They swore as they stepped into a chunk of space that was from a much, much earlier era, and were bathed in warm sunlight. Moonstruck had half expected something like this to happen, and wasn't terribly startled by it although her eyes hurt from the sudden brightness.

"Wha-what just happened?" The prince whipped around. The building now appeared to be absolutely pristine, and ponies were meandering around outside. The tower above was standing tall without a hint of damage, and while the ivy was still crawling up the buildings, it was nowhere near the tangled jungle it was moments ago.

"Time distortion." Joseph grunted. "This little piece of real estate is stuck in the past. The ponies weren't here when I came through before though."

"Like the village, and the castle by the river." Moonstruck nodded.

"Yup."

"What?"

"The ponies are a memory. They don't show up for Joseph, but they will for me. Us, really." Moonstruck shrugged, looking over her shoulder at the prince, whom was staring wide eyed at all of the activity.

"They're not really there. Not anymore."

"How? I mean..." He took a step towards a pair of mares heading straight towards them.

"Don't step that way, you'll step into another chunk of distortion." Joseph warned.

The prince pulled his hoof back. The mares continued walking this way, never once looking at the three of them, chatting happily.

Moonstruck sidled into their path, and watched them walk right through her. She lifted her gaze to lock eyes with the prince, who was looking quite perturbed.

"That is so creepy. Wha-what did it feel like?"

"Nothing." Moonstruck shrugged. "It's like I said, they're not really there."

They watched the activity for a few minutes, then decided to keep moving.

"I wonder how much information we can glean from all this..." The prince mused as they took a sharp left.

"No telling. We'll have to come back later and pony-watch to see if anything interesting happens." Moonstruck glanced up at the sky as shadows raced across the ground in front of them. Three pegasus shot overhead, trilling laughter. They took a sharp right, then transitioned out of the past and back into the gloomy present. Or something like it, anyway. There was really no telling when all of this actually existed.

Moonstruck frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, so, what's the deal with Princess Nadia? Starswirl mentioned her in the journal, so she was still alive for all this."

"Uh... well, she was my aunt – Mother's older sister. Mother rarely speaks of her, but we found record of her down here."

Moonstruck paused and turned as another thought struck her. "Wait, Roanamia had two alicorns born in the same family?"

The prince and Joseph, who was a few paces ahead, paused as well. "Er... no. As near as we can tell, Princess Nadia was a pegasus. She died in a freak accident – I do recall mentioning that at the meeting."

The wheels in Moonstruck's head lurched into motion with a dusty creaking noise she was surprised no one else could hear. "Your mothers older sister was a pegasus?"

"Yes. Well, we think so." The prince shifted his weight and pawed at the ground in front of him with his left front hoof. "Most of the information we have about her is vague, at best. We know she was older than mother, and that she bore the royal cutie mark that ensured her place as heir to the throne, and there's no mention of her magical abilities, but several mentions of her flying prowess."

"Royal cutie mark?"

"Yes. Er... Roanamian royalty has a unique, inherited cutie mark system." The prince frowned at his own blank flank. "Or we did. It's rather complex, but basically we all have a rose theme. You've seen Eira's cutie mark?"

"The snowflake with the silver roses?"

"Yes. Basically, what's inside the circle of roses will determine the ponies role in the family. Nadia had a winged crown within her roses, which denoted her as future queen."

"Lucena just has a dragon eye. No roses." Moonstruck breathed.

"Yes. More distant relatives will not have the roses, or will have some variation on them depending on how closely related they are." The prince said, his face growing pale as he did so.

"Oh... oh dear... why didn't I..."

"You think Lucena killed her sister?" Joseph grimaced.

"It makes sense. I mean, Lucena is an alicorn from birth, but she's the second sister, and she doesn't have the family cutie mark motif." Moonstruck looked back and shifted a wing to see her own cutie mark.

"Celestia even said that she used to hide her true cutie mark."

"Really?"

"Yeah, uh... I think it was a star in a circle of roses."

The prince scowled and stared at his hooves. "I... I actually think I've seen depictions of that, now that you mention it. It was mixed in with the accounts pertaining to Nadia... many of those pictures are damaged, or deteriorating so badly it's hard to make heads or tails of them – it's part of why we don't know for sure if Nadia was a pegasus or not. The only images we could find of her were missing part of her face, and sometimes her head entirely."

They let that sink in for a few moments.

"I bet this is why Lucena hates pegasus ponies so much." Moonstruck said softly.

"Yes, that would certainly explain a lot." The prince sighed, bowing his head.

"Lets keep moving." Joseph murmured.

A minute or so later they passed in to another fragment, which even surprised Moonstruck. There was no High Energy Magic Building, no university, no city. Just a vast, lush valley and a deep velvety night illuminated by billions upon billions of stars, and a crescent moon low on the horizon. A cool breeze rippled the knee high grass, and through her messy mane. It was an exceptionally nice night. Warm, but with that aforementioned breeze to keep things comfortable. The only thing missing were fireflies and a frog chorus. The broken magic had chosen a good chunk of time to get stuck in.

Behind her, the prince let out a sharp gasp. She glanced over her shoulder to see what had prompted such an outburst. He was staring up. She looked up as well, not spotting anything out of the ordinary, although it was nice to see the stars after being cooped up in the city all of this time. Light pollution was a complete drag; She was very glad Trot tried to minimize it as best they could, and it was only a short fly out of the city to get away from it entirely, if she wanted.

"I've never seen so many stars!" He breathed.

She gave him a funny look. "Not even when you were out in the mountains?"

"No... the shield distorts everything, and the pollution extends up to the higher peaks." He looked at her, then looked around. "And it hasn't been this green since before I was born, I think."

"Glenda says the same thing." Moonstruck muttered, looking up again as well. A bit of the anger she'd been feeling on and off flaring up again. The prince was fairly privileged in that he got to travel, and could probably see more of the world than most, but even he hadn't seen the night sky in its full glory.

"Is it safe to explore?" The prince asked.

"I don't know yet." Joseph shook his head. "I just found the one path through this part."

"Right." The prince looked crestfallen, but he started forward, head down, ears pulled back slightly, starlight glinted briefly across tears at the corners of his eyes. He sniffled softly.

Moonstruck turned and started off again. She had not anticipated that this would be an emotional journey for anyone. And now that she thought about it, seeing the university full of life, with all three tribes of ponies happily intermingling had to have been a trip for him as well. It was a relief to her, since that was what she was used to, but to him that sort of carefree life was still a far off dream.

They were only in the ancient past for a few minutes. As they crested a low hill and the river came into view, they suddenly stepped from grass to cobblestones, and back into the dreary underground city. Moonstruck let out a short sigh. She certainly wouldn't have minded lingering there for a good long while.

Reaching the building, Joseph led them around to the main entrance and up a short flight of stairs. The doors hung slightly ajar, their hinges all but rusted away. The dragon cautiously pushed one of the doors open, then motioned them inside. Moonstruck brushed past him then stepped aside once in the building. The prince entered a bit more cautiously, head low, ears flicking left and right. Joseph stepped in and gently closed the door behind him.

"It's really iffy in here, so be really careful." He whispered. "Don't want to bring the whole place down."

Moonstruck nodded and fired up her light spell. It took a little bit of effort to do so, likely because of the amazingly dense magical field contained within the walls. It hadn't been half this heavy outside! Magic still worked, at least, though she was not sure for how long.

They did not have much to explore; most of the doors were jammed shut, and several stairwells had collapsed, effectively cutting them off from the upper stories. With magic being in the state it was in, Moonstruck didn't dare try teleporting anywhere. They eventually found the tower, and were relieved to see that its main central spiral staircase was still intact, but just barely so. Moonstruck was a little worried it couldn't bear all of their weight as they cautiously climbed it. Joseph didn't seem to be an issue, but she and the prince were considerably heavier than he was, and it creaked ominously whenever they took a step.

Five stories up they exited on to a landing and began circling around testing doors. The lower floors hadn't been intact enough to do any sort of exploring. Blue light drew Moonstrucks attention down a short hallway. At the end of the hall on the left hoof side a door was completely missing, and the room beyond was open to the rest of the underground city – which was where the light was coming from. The floor boards in front of the doorway were blackened and warped, and the opposite wall was smeared with a thick layer of soot.

"I think we have our blast site." She murmured to the others. They nodded.

She tested the damaged floor, felt that it would support her weight, then carefully leaned into the room, amping up her light spell to take a look around. The room beyond was surprisingly intact considering there was a gaping hole in the wall. Laden book shelves lined the walls, and several lab tables split the room into sections. A few of the tables had been knocked over in the blast, but a few more were still upright. There was a chalkboard at the far end of the room, half off its stand and leaning in a haphazard angle. Moonstruck pricked her ears up, then very carefully edged further into the room.

That couldn't possibly be _the_ blackboard, could it? By all rights it shouldn't be here – if this room had been stuck in a time shortly after the blast, Starswirl and the others would have been able to study it with or without Lucenas permission because she would never _really_ be able to remove it from the room. Then again, she didn't know how the distortion worked, so this could have all happened later, after the cataclysm moved, or otherwise manifested this chunk of city down here. It must have - surely they would have cleaned up and repaired the tower after the blast, but before Lucena started a war with the world. Probably when everything broke it reverted to this particular point in time.

Reaching the chalkboard she tilted her head to the side to read what was written on it. It was a shield spell all right; one that wasn't terribly different from the standard city-protection spells she knew, but with several added equations that she had never seen before. And there was indeed a mathematical error on the Z axis. All three of them.

"This is really weird." She hissed as she pulled her notebook out and began copying down the spell.

"Do you think this is it?" The prince asked, stepping cautiously past her to get a closer look at the chalkboard.

"I think it's part of it." Moonstruck muttered. The more of it she wrote down, the more she realized the spell was incomplete. Almost like three spells loosely linked together, though none of the spells were individually complete either.

"Do you think it's safe to rifle through some of these books?" Joseph asked.

"No idea. Lemme finish writing this down before you do."

"Right."

"Can you explain any of it at all?" The prince asked. He inclined his snout towards one line of runes. "I know this bit here is for projecting a shield..."

"Yeah, that's the standard shield spell part. The negative number on the Z axis is wrong. You never put a negative number for Z – even if you're creating a bubble spell." She shook her head, flicked her eyes up to the board, then added another section.

"Actually, I think the X and Y are a little funky too, but I'd have to play with the numbers more to know for sure. These other two sections are really odd – I have no idea what they were trying to do with these."

"You don't know what sort of spells they are?"

She finished writing and began double checking to make sure she got it all. "Not off the top of my head. One of them sort of looks like a spell you'd use to create a power crystal at first but then the equation is completely wrong. The other is new to me."

She seemed to have everything as near as she could tell, she offered the notebook to the prince. "Can you check what I have?"

"Uh... I don't really, er..." He cringed away from the book.

"You don't have to understand it, I just want to make sure I got all of it down."

"Oh! Oh, yes, I-I can do that." He grabbed hold of the book with magic and began carefully comparing her notes to what was written on the chalkboard.

Moonstruck began exploring the room more, taking the opposite side to where Joseph was sniffing around. There were a lot of papers scattered around, though most of them were badly scorched.

"I think you're good." The prince declared after a couple of minutes. "Though you misspelled a couple of words."

"Heh heh, it's the runes that matter most. Thanks." Moonstruck chuckled. She accepted the book from him, skimmed back over it briefly, then stuffed it back in a saddle bag. "Alright, we can start looking at books and stuff now."

Joseph grunted and pulled a tome off the shelf, then tilted his head to the side. He took a step back from the bookshelf and towards the hole in the wall. "Hey, Mooney, your friend is back."

Moonstruck lifted a brow then made her way over to the gap in the wall to see what he was looking at. One of the creatures was standing down in the courtyard, staring up at her with dark, empty eye sockets. She felt no urge to go down there, and the world didn't slow as it had before.

"Hmm. I don't think it's in the same time we are."

"Might be a goat trail kinda thing." Joseph shrugged. He looked back into the room and dropped the book he was holding, his head shooting up in alarm. Moonstruck whipped around as the prince let out a surprisingly high pitched squeak.

The queen was standing in the doorway, her yellow eyes strangely luminous in the deep shadows. Every hair on Moonstrucks body stood on end, and an array of combat spells immediately sprang to mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she could just see Joseph bristle and arch his wings over his back.

Lucena didn't seem to see them. She glanced around before stepping cautiously in to the room, the bluish light sliding across her jet black mane and wings. She was moving properly on all fours, instead of the strange bipedal transformation, and her face was unlined.

"It's a memory." Moonstruck sighed heavily and tucked her spells away in the back of her mind. "'Bout gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh good, I was worried we'd have to demolish the tower." Joseph sagged with relief, watching as the mare moved across the floor towards the chalkboard. They looked over at the prince.

He was standing stone still, say for his chest, which was rising and falling rapidly as he sucked in harsh, ragged breaths, eyes fixed on the image of his mother stalking towards him. Impossibly he seemed to be shrinking, though Moonstruck knew he was just sliding into a very deep cower, folding his wings tight across his flanks.

Moonstruck grimaced and hastily scrambled around a few stools to get to the apparition.

"She isn't here!"

She waved a hoof through the image of the queen to demonstrate her less than solid presence. "It's okay, she's not here! This isn't real!"

The princes breathing cut off abruptly as he froze completely. Moonstruck scuttled over him to give him a rough shake.

"Max!"

He jolted like he'd been struck, sucked in a sharp breath, then looked down at her without really seeing her.

"It's a memory. She isn't real. She isn't here." Moonstruck said softly.

"A... a memory?" He wheezed.

"Yes. Like the ponies down in the courtyard." Moonstruck made eye contact and did her best to hold it.

He swallowed hard, nodded, then looked to his right, to where the memory had just paused. They watched as Lucena examined the chalkboard, then grabbed hold of it with magic before teleporting away.

They all sagged with relief once they were sure she was gone.

"I guess the chalkboard was the only thing that mattered." Joseph grunted.

"Yeah." Moonstruck agreed. "Lets get out of here."

"H-h-ow d-do you know." The prince stammered as he shakily started uncurling himself out of the little ball he'd been trying to roll himself in to.

"It was the only thing she took."

"R-right." He nodded, then coughed a bit.

"Did you remember to bring any paper bags?" Moonstruck frowned. He didn't' have any saddlebags, and she certainly didn't have any in hers.

"N-no." He shook his head, finally able to take a few wobbly steps forward. "I-I'll be alright in a few minutes. Just have to, just have to focus on keeping my breathing under control."

Moonstruck exchanged glances with Joseph, who shrugged helplessly. He led them out of the room, back down the hall to the stairwell. They were back to the ground floor in a few minutes, even with the prince having to stop every dozen steps to get his breathing into some semblance of control.

Moonstruck wasn't sure what to do to help him. Lindsey seemed to be the one on top of the paper bags, though she had no idea how things worked during a time sensitive situation, or when it otherwise just wasn't practical to stop and give him a chance to calm down. It might be that the prince could keep it together long enough to get things done, then had a complete meltdown later. She certainly hoped it was the latter. Not that she _wanted_ him to have a complete meltdown, it was just, well, if he _had_ to, there were better times to do it.

They were out the door and down the front steps a few minutes later, then trotting across the courtyard in the opposite direction they came in. Moonstruck knew better than to ask why they were taking a different route out, though the prince was obviously confused. While it hadn't taken them long to get in to the High Energy Magic Building, Moonstruck estimated that it took them all of five minutes to get out. She felt the world mush around them as the building they'd left Glenda and Lindsey on came into view.

"Didn't we just...?" The prince panted. He was still breathing heavily, but seemed to be better now.

"Yeah, it kinda swings you back around to this point if you take a right out of the building instead of a left – it's a lot quicker this way. Doesn't work the same getting in, by the way."

"I see."

A few more strides brought Glenda and Lindsey into view up on the apex of the roof. And Wenchell... and Fern... and Evee and – was everyone up there? What were they doing? And how'd they get the unicorn and earth ponies up there?

Joseph stopped suddenly, Moonstruck almost crashed in to him. "Um... this way." He turned right and set off at a trot.

"What?" Moonstruck craned her neck to see what was going on, spotting movement in the shadows of the buildings beyond the one the ponies were all clustered on.

"It's still daylight!" The prince yelped.

Joseph zig zagged across the large paving stones, then darted back towards the building, taking wing mid-stride. Moonstruck copied him then took off as well, only sparing a single glance back to make sure the prince was doing the same.

They arrived at the roof to see a small horde of creatures pacing restlessly about ten yards away, keeping to the shadows, staring fixedly at the space between buildings where the High Energy Magic Building was in view. Seeing the creatures this close was a bit of a trick; hey seemed to shift back and forth between insubstantial and solid, and she couldn't even begin to describe what color they were. They also couldn't seem to decide what tribe of pony they belonged to; they oozed between all three as they milled around. They made no sound, but at the same time she could faintly sense a sort of low, buzzing murmur emanating from their direction.

"What's happening?" Moonstruck asked as soon as she set down.

"We don't know – they almost never come out when it's this bright!" Lindsey shook her head. "They don't seem to be interested in us as long as we're up here but..."

"The magnets didn't even start spinning." Wenchell yelped. "Nothing! The library was filled with fog all of the sudden!"

"We were going to evacuate but they wouldn't let us pass." Evee added. "I mean, _we_ could fly out, but the earth and unicorn ponies couldn't, so we stayed with them and helped them get on the roof."

"How long were we gone?" Moonstruck asked Glenda.

"Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes." Glenda muttered. "We didn't notice anything strange until everyone showed up."

The prince finally landed on the roof, biting his lip so hard Moonstruck was surprised it wasn't bleeding.

"Status report."

Lindsey briefly filled him in.

He scowled hard. "We can probably get back to the staircase via rooftops."

"How?" We can't jump across to the next roof." Wenchell gestured to the nearest building. "That's a forty foot gap at the shortest part."

"I can, if magic is still working alright." Moonstruck stared grimly at the next roof over. She worked her way through the crowd to look down at the street; there was enough rubble down there to do a quick test run. Keeping an eye on the creatures to see how they reacted, she grabbed hold of as much random stuff as she could and levitated it a few inches above the ground. The creatures all turned to watch.

Grimacing, she lifted the debris a little higher. The creatures shifted their gaze to her, and she felt the chill start to creep up on her. Shaking her head, she focused on moving the stuff to the next roof. While it was easy enough to lift everything straight up, the further away she moved it from herself, the harder it was to control. She lost her grip on them twenty feet away, the bits of brick and stone crashing to the cobbles with a dusty clatter.

"Well, that's out." She growled and backed away from the edge of the roof. "And I think they're attracted to magic."

"Guess I can see how they react to fire." Joseph muttered.

"Fire doesn't really bother them." The prince shook his head. Moonstruck noted that while he was pale with a fine sheen of sweat across his brow and withers, his breathing was fairly normal. "It passes right through them."

"Hmm." Joseph grunted, then padded down and dropped off the roof.

Moonstruck and Glenda exchanged startled glances, then scrambled back to the edge to see what in blazes Joseph was up to. He was crouching just below the roof, staring at the creatures whom didn't seem to pay him any mind. They were looking back and forth between the High Energy Magic Building, and herself, it seemed.

Joseph sniffed curiously at the creatures, then pulled his head back, lip curling back in disgust. Snout wrinkled and brow deeply furrowed, he cautiously padded to the center of the street, wings partially unfurled to take off instantly if need be. Still the creatures ignored him. He stood there for a few moments, watching them mill around, then he reached down and picked up a pebble. He tossed it at them then shuffled back a few paces. The pebble bounced over and hit the wall behind them, the creatures only gave it a cursory glance, never looking up to see where it had come from.

He straightened up out of his crouch, tilted his head to the side, then breathed a plume of fire at the opposite wall. The fire rolled across the wall and ground, sending the creatures running up the street a short ways. Joseph fluttered up to the opposite building to watch as they shuffled around in great agitation before going back to pace in the shadows. He looked across at the gathered ponies and shrugged.

"Well, they react to dragon fire. And they smell _horrendous_ , by the way."

"That was really, really weird." Lindsey grumbled, then said more loudly. "Do you think you can herd them away?"

"I can try." Joseph hopped off the roof again and breathed another plume of fire at the creatures. They shot off in a panic, but started to return as soon as the fire dissipated. He stepped closer and breathed again, but they only retreated a dozen feet down the street.

"I don't think this is going to be very efficient – and I do have limits." Joseph grunted as he fluttered back up to their roof.

"I can try leading them away, I guess. Just cast a bunch of random spells to hold their attention." Moonstruck suggested.

"No, no it's too dangerous to go alone. They have an easier time influencing you if you're away from a group." The prince shook his head.

"I can go with her." Joseph shrugged. "They don't seem to care about me."

The prince frowned.

"We can do a quick test run." Moonstruck worked her way out of the crowd and towards the end of the roof. She glided across to the next building, Joseph close behind. The creatures watched them, but seemed disinclined to leave the shadows. Moonstruck found a brick to levitate and held it about ten feet off the roof. The creatures perked up.

"C'mon, get the brick!" She grinned, then fluttered to the building across the street, brick in tow.

The creatures scurried after.

"Yes!" They moved to the next roof over. The creatures stopped at the edge of the shadows.

"C'mon! C'mon! Get the brick! Come get it!" Moonstruck waved the brick around, then sent in spiraling through a complex pattern. The creatures stared expectantly up at her, but did not move.

"Maybe you need to up the ante?" Joseph suggested.

Moonstruck furrowed her brow, and placed a bubble shield over the brick. The creatures seemed interested, but they would not leave the shadows – even when she moved the brick closer to them.

"Two blocks. Not far enough." Moonstruck grumbled. She pumped more magic into the spell than was really necessary, almost overloading it. The creatures fidgeted but were still unwilling to follow it any further.

"Aw c'mon!" She spat, hurling the brick at them. It passed through them and shattered against the wall. They stared up at her with empty eye sockets. Moonstruck heaved a heavy sigh, then stomped down to the edge of the roof. She dropped to the ground, Joseph a beat behind.

"Well!?"

"Don't do that!" Several ponies shouted.

The creatures could not resist a living target, finally surging towards her in a writhing, flickering mass of indeterminate colors and a stench that defied explanation. Moonstruck yelped and scrambled back as Joseph let out a manic giggle.

"This'll be a fun game!"

"Fun for you maybe!"

"That's what I meant!"

Moonstruck spared the dragon a sharp glance, then turned around and galloped down the street as fast as she could. She did not look back for several blocks, and when she did, the horde was a good fifteen lengths behind, scrambling from shadow to shadow. She was a little surprised they were so far back – they were all smaller than she was, and therefore faster in a sprint. They should have caught up to her a block or so ago, before she'd been able to hit top speed. She heard a faint crackle in her ear, then Glendas muffled voice.

"Keep it up, and stay safe, we're making a break for it!"

"Alright, see you back at the stairwell!" Moonstruck panted.

They reached the end of the street, slid into a tight turn, then took wing in a panic as a second group caught sight of them from the shadow of a collapsed building. They settled on a roof a short ways away.

"There's more out there, do you have spotters?" Moonstruck asked as they surveyed the situation. The creatures seemed to lose their focus once they were on the roof, began milling around restlessly again.

"Yes, we're keeping away from them as best we can." Glenda replied.

"That way's clear." Joseph pointed off down the block, perpendicular to the stairs that were still several miles away in the opposite direction. Moonstruck wasn't particularly worried about how far they went, since they could just fly back.

"Right." Moonstruck looked at him a bit more closely. He was not particularly winded. "I'm surprised you can keep up, since you only have two legs."

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Of course I can. Ever hear of emu's?"

She squinted at him. "Those big flightless birds from Brumby?"

"Yeah." He lifted a leg and flexed his toes. Toes that bore more blunt claws for running, instead of curved and sharp for slashing. They were not unlike an emu foot, last she recalled.

"I beat one in a sprint once."

"They're as fast as ponies." She said, also recalling that while she'd seen Joseph kick things, he mostly used his jaws and hands to hunt. The claws on his hands were much sharper than the ones on his feet.

He grinned.

"Okay, this _will_ be a fun game." Moonstruck grinned back. "Ready?"

"Yep!"

They lunged off the roof, landed in the middle of the street, and started making a ton of noise. The creatures noticed them immediately, and bolted towards them. Letting out a whoop, they turned tail and ran as fast as they could up the block, cackling manic laughter as they did.

Although the creatures came within a few lengths of them on several occasions, and Moonstruck did start to feel a chill creep up her legs to her spine, she found it oddly easy to shake off. Maybe it was that they couldn't catch her off guard anymore because she was unconsciously pushing back; maybe it was because they were barreling down the empty streets at breakneck speed and she just didn't have time to be entranced like that; maybe it was just something about the pounding of her hooves, and their laughter echoing across the dead city.

A few miles later they fluttered up to the roof of a two story building to take a breather. The ground below was practically a sea of creatures, and their stench was inescapable even from up high.

"How's it going over there?" Joseph asked, tapping his communicator node. He was breathing heavily, but nowhere near the level she was.

Moonstruck glared at him for a few moments as he checked in with Glenda and the others. Somehow he wasn't completely winded. She vaguely recalled Patch rambling something about bird lungs and air sacks being more efficient than mammal lungs – it was very likely Joseph had more of an avian respiratory system. He also didn't sweat, apparently. She was drenched.

"They're about half way up the stairs." He informed her. "Glenda tried to call sooner but all she got was static. Probably from passing through all those fragments."

Moonstruck nodded.

"You okay? Need to lie down?" He teased.

Moonstruck shot him a sharp look, still breathing heavily.

He giggled.

"So how'd you win the evolutionary lottery, eh?" She wheezed as they ambled to the edge of the roof. "You can run as fast as a pony; jump – what? Ten, fifteen feet straight up? Fly, breathe fire, and goodness knows what else. I assume you're a strong swimmer, too."

"I'd say, decent swimmer. And, I dunno." He shrugged, then took off, Moonstruck a beat behind. "All I know is that my species used to have some pretty intense competition do deal with."

Moonstruck nodded. Being a small dragon in a titanic dragons world would probably result in some pretty amazing adaptations. Clearly Josephs kind are generalists, able to adapt to almost any terrain, and hunt a wide variety of prey. Ponies, meanwhile, acquired some very powerful magic to cope with many of those same pressures.

It took little time to reach the stairs. The rest of the group were waiting for them at the top when they glided in for a landing. The prince was scowling darkly at her as the other ponies scurried into the elevator to give them room to land.

"That was exceedingly reckless!" He snapped as soon as her hooves touched the platform.

"Yeah, but it worked." Moonstruck pointed out, checking her saddlebags before folding her wings. "All present and accounted for, I presume?"

"Yes." He grumbled. "But you shouldn't have done that!"

"What would you rather do, wait around for them to get bored and wander off?" Moonstruck huffed.

The prince sputtered, then stamped a hoof. "A more measured approach would have far preferable to just... just... offering yourself up as bait!"

"We don't have time for measured approaches!" She snarled, pushing past him to join the others on the elevator. "And that was a calculated risk! They don't seem to be effecting me as much as yesterday, Joseph was there to snap me out of it if they did, and I could always fly up to a roof if I needed to!"

The ponies parted around her as she stomped onto the elevator, pressing themselves up against the walls in trepidation. The prince stormed on a second later.

"You don't get it! You're too valuable – too much hinges on you being able to confront Mother! You can't be so reckless! If you - "

"So what, you want to sacrifice your ponies just to keep me safe?" Moonstruck stepped up to get in his face.

"Of course not! I don't want to sacrifice anyone at all!"

"Neither do I! But I'm capable of more than most ponies, so I will gladly take on more risks!"

"This isn't more risks, it's -"

"It's my bucking job!" She roared. "I am an _alicorn princess_ – it's my job to make sure as many ponies as possible make it out alive – even, no _especially_ if it means putting my life on the line! Because there is no bucking point of having all of this power if you don't use it to help everypony however you can!"

The prince took a small step back from her, his angry scowl melting into surprise, and his back arching as he slumped into a slight cower.

In the silence that followed, the ponies very cautiously closed the back doors, then opened the front. There was a mass exodus as soon as more than two ponies could fit through the opening, leaving she and the prince alone in the dark elevator.

Moonstruck let out a long sigh, then moved back to give the prince some space. She closed her eyes.

"This isn't the dumbest thing I've ever done, and nowhere near the most reckless. Joseph, don't even start."

She turned to see him nodding from where he was peeking around the open door. He grinned at her. Glenda poked her head out from the opposite side of the door.

"Wasn't that supposed to be a secret?"

She gave the old pegasus a funny look.

"You're a princess?" Lindsey asked, sticking her head around the door as well.

Moonstruck slumped. "Dagnabbit... well, it isn't like it matters."

"I'm sorry." The prince murmured, closing his eyes, bowing his head and drooping his wings. He did not rise out of his crouch, if anything he sank lower. "I didn't... I just can't stand the thought of anyone getting hurt on my watch. Or in general. Or..."

"It's alright." She waved a hoof dismissively. "That's actually a good thing – a very good thing."

He nodded but didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Can we go now? I really, really need a bath."

"Ah, ha ha, yes." The prince perked up a bit and scuttled past her, trotting with head low and tail tucked nearly between his legs to where the others were huddled at the other end of the hallway.

"Is it just me, or is the stench lingering?" Moonstruck wrinkled her snout.

"It's lingering." Joseph grumbled.

"Quite strongly." Glenda wrinkled her snout as well, then trotted ahead of them.

"So, that isn't your real name, is it?" Lindsey asked, trotting backwards just in front of them.

"Of course it is. It's ridiculous. All royalty have ridiculous names." Moonstruck sniffed haughtily.

"Not _that_ ridiculous!" Lindsey snorted a laugh. "I know Joseph and Glenda call you Mooney sometimes."

"Just an old nickname."

"Sure."

"It is!" Moonstruck chuckled. She always got a kick out of the truth being less believable than a lie.

"Hey Wenchell, she's actually a princess!" Lindsey crowed once they were in earshot of the rest of the group.

"What, really?" Wenchell half turned as the others pricked their ears up in interest.

"It doesn't matter!" Moonstruck sang.

"Actually it kind of does." Wenchell said, eyeing her curiously.

"And Angelina Francesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca isn't her real name!" Lindsey grinned.

"That I believe." Wenchell chuckled.

"Didn't Glenda call her Moonstruck earlier?" One of the pegasus asked.

Moonstruck blinked a few times then glanced at the old mare. Glenda promptly looked away.

"Princess Moonstruck." Lindsey scowled. "You're right, it is ridiculous."

Moonstruck rolled her eyes. So much for keeping secrets.

"It's definitely an old timey name." Evee giggled.

"Wait, are you a princess by lineage, or do you just have the title?" Wenchell asked.

"Eh?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow. The group started up the stairs, though they kept a few healthy paces away from she and Joseph, likely to avoid the smell.

"Lineage."

A few of the unicorns exchanged glances. "So, at least one parent was an alicorn?"

"Of course...?" Moonstruck was really curious about where he was going with this. Unless they know about ponies becoming alicorns, generally being born as one was the main route. She glanced up at the prince, whom was at the head of the pack. He seemed focused on leading them out, but he had one ear flicked back to listen.

"Mother, or father?"

"Mother."

"And her mother?"

"Also an alicorn – it doesn't really matter that much - "

"It does, actually!" Wenchell beamed. "How far back can you trace your lineage? How many of your ancestors were alicorns?"

Moonstruck scowled. "Uh...? I think most of my maternal line are alicorns. Stallions are kinda rare for alicorns, but I think most of my paternal line are unicorns... and most of my relatives on my moms side, now that I think about it. And really, power doesn't always inherit evenly – if that's what you're curious about, so - "

"Wait, seriously?" Lindsey cut in. "Most of your maternal line were alicorns?"

"Yeah, I think so. Really, it doesn't matter much."

"What house do you belong to?" Wenchell asked.

Moonstruck scowled. She wasn't sure how much of a risk it was to reveal. Houses didn't mean much in the outside world aside from certain especially snobby circles, but they still meant something here. Still, she was getting mighty curious about where they were going with this.

"Sol-Chronos."

The prince stopped suddenly, causing everypony directly behind him to stumble and bump into him. He lifted his head and shot her a startled look.

"You're Sol-Chronos!? Oops, sorry, I'll keep moving..."

"I take it you know it?" Moonstruck gave him a flat look.

"Yes! A joining of two of the most powerful houses is a major historical event! I mean, House Sol produced Celestia and Luna, and House Chronos is, well the house of time itself! Your power must be - "

"'Bout average. It's like I said, power doesn't inherent evenly." Moonstruck sighed.

"Average for an alicorn, or average for a unicorn?" Wenchell asked.

Moonstruck had to think about that. "Uh... okay, how about on par with a powerful unicorn, with a few perks here and there." She ruffled her wings.

"Yes but - "

"And my dad comes from a long line of farmers and green wizards." Moonstruck added. "It takes two to tango, yanno. It isn't like incredible cosmic power is just passed down without any interference from the non-alicorn party, and most offspring of alicorns are of the three tribes of ponies anyway. Even if both parents are alicorns, the likelihood of their foals being alicorns too is kinda low. Entire houses are effectively extinct because they haven't produced an alicorn in thousands of years – but their unicorn, pegasus and earth pony decedents are still out there in the general population."

"Okay, that was not in the books." Wenchell threw a glance at Lindsey.

"I wonder if that's one of the ones Lucena tampered with." She scowled.

"Still, House Sol-Chronos..." The prince muttered. "Are you clairvoyant at all?"

"Nope."

They were silent as they made their way out of the halls and stairwells, everyone mulling things over, apparently. Moonstruck still wasn't sure why they were so curious about her royal status. Magical power was hit and miss, and political power was not linked to it by any means. She happened to have both by birthright but one could just as easily have great political power with no magical power to speak of, or great magical power, but no political power.

Tired of thinking about it, she pulled her notebook out of her saddle bag and flipped to the page with the shield spell on it, glad to see that it was still there. Looking at it again didn't offer any new insights into its final form. She strongly suspected the proof would be in the equations. She knew they were wrong, but she wasn't sure how that wrongness would result in the sort of shield that ultimately ended up happening – nor how Lucena could have harnessed it to do what she did based on what they knew about her abilities.

She sighed as they exited the final door and shoved the book back in her bag. A few minutes out in the storm drains brought a more pressing problem. "I don't think we can go back like this."

"Why not?" Glenda asked.

"We reek – if the smell doesn't come out with soap and water, I dunno what we're gonna do." Moonstruck glanced over at Joseph. She only had basic shampoos and conditioners. Granted they were very nice, high end soaps, but not really designed to deal with this caliper of stank.

"Somepony's gonna notice, and maybe get curious."

"We have decontamination showers." Lindsey piped. "We mostly use them for the dorms, but Buster can cook up some potion or something to get the smell out, probably."

"What're you volunteering me for?" Buster blurted.

"Make yourself useful." Wenchell gave Buster a shove. "Collect samples or something."

"Of what? I can't sample a smell, and I don't have my gear anyway."

"Extra baths can't hurt." Moonstruck said as Joseph nodded reluctantly. "If we can get the worst of it out here, I can probably figure something out once we're back in the tower. Maybe hijack some tomato juice or something."

Joseph chortled. "This is way worse than skunk stink."

"Worth a shot." Moonstruck shrugged.

"Will we have enough time?" Glenda asked as they started back to the warehouse.

"Probably, we weren't down there very long, I think." Moonstruck grunted.

"You can head back If you want." Joseph offered. "It isn't a cleaning day, so they'll just drop off breakfast. As long as someone's there to answer the door, I don't think they care."

"Mmm, good point. I think I'll do that." Glenda nodded.

"I should hug you before you go. You need a hug." Moonstruck began sidling towards the old mare, grinning evilly.

"That's alright dear. Bye!" Glenda beamed, and activated her nodestone, teleporting away.

Moonstruck giggled.

By the time they made it back to the warehouse the bulk of the ponies had drifted ahead a good thirty yards. Buster reluctantly met them outside the showers to collect a fur and scale sample to analyze, then darted off down the hall. Moonstruck mulled over how to de-stink her saddlebags and everything in them as she set her stuff down in the locker room outside the showers. The bags themselves she could just wash, her lunch she'd already thrown out, but the notebook and writing utensils would be tricky.

The showers were about what she'd expected; a long open room with a drain running down the center. The walls were lined with pedal operated shower heads every other yard or so, with low shelves recessed into the walls beneath each head for soaps and things. Most of the alcoves were empty, but somepony had left bottles of heavy duty shampoo and feather conditioner in the locker room for them, along with neatly folded towels. Moonstruck examined the bottle as she ambled into the shower room. It didn't seem like anything special, aside from claiming to be industrial strength. She was a little surprised there was feather conditioner at all, all things considered. They had the place of mind to bring Joseph a bar of soap as well.

Sighing, Moonstruck picked a side, and a spot, and turned the water on, staring into space as she waited for the pipes to spit out whatever rusty, moldy, icky things were growing in it, and the water to come to temperature.

Joseph watched her operate the pedals, then did the same himself on the opposite side of the room.

"I miss my bathroom." Moonstruck muttered after a minute or so. "Really, I miss Trot City. We have nice water."

Joseph nodded.

"I have a great soaker tub too. It even has jets." Moonstruck added. The tub back at the suite wasn't nearly as nice as the one she had at home – even if it was large enough for a half dozen ponies.

Joseph grunted then stuck a hand in the water stream. The temperature was agreeable to him so he stepped fully in to it. Moonstruck stuck a hoof into her stream of water, and decided to give it another twenty or thirty seconds. A bit of steam began to curl up from the water a short while later, so she finally sidled into the stream. She stood there for a while, letting herself zone out as the water soaked through her coat and mane. It rolled off her feathers; she'd have to strip the oils off of her wings with soap to get them fully clean. It wasn't something she usually did, but was necessary today.

"What's feather conditioner?" Joseph asked after a few minutes.

Moonstruck started and glanced over her shoulder. He was scowling down at the bottle he'd been supplied.

"It puts some oils back onto your feathers so they don't completely dry out from the soap."

"Oh." He frowned then unscrewed the cap to give it a quick sniff. Wrinkling his snout, he put the bottle down, then picked up his bar of soap. "I hate soap."

"I'm gonna guess you don't really need it most of the time." Moonstruck sighed as she lifted her bottle of shampoo.

"Nope."

"Okay, how do I use this?" Joseph asked as Moonstruck was on a second lather. The stink was giving way only reluctantly – at least in her fur. It didn't seem to cling to dragon scales as much, apparently.

"Just work it into your feathers, give it a couple of minutes to soak in, then rinse off the excess." Moonstruck grunted. "Your feathers will basically absorb as much as they need."

"Simple enough I guess." Joseph muttered.

Moonstruck rinsed out all of the shampoo again, then stepped out of the water as Joseph began rinsing out his feathers. She sniffed herself then frowned. It was still pretty strong. Reluctantly she levitated the shampoo bottle again for a third go.

"I'll dry off then go join Glenda." Joseph said as passed her on his way out of the shower.

"'Kay." Moonstruck grunted from somewhere within her cocoon of suds.

The stink finally seemed to give way after the third go, then it was on to the task of re-hydrating her feathers. Her coat, mane and tail would have to wait until she got back to her suite, where she had conditioners designed for fur and hair.

She kicked the water off to spread the viscus liquid across her feathers, then sat with her wings spread to let it soak in for a few minutes. She could have easily fallen asleep, but managed to keep from doing so. Once she was sure her feathers had absorbed all they were going to absorb, she turned the water back on and rinsed them off. At first the goop oozed off her wings in greasy globs, but then water began to bead up here and there. She shook her wings out, shut the water off, then shook them out again. She'd have some extensive grooming to do later, but for now she was good to go.

She cast her drying spell, gave her wings a quick once over to make sure they hadn't dried out too much from the spell, then ambled back into the locker room. Her saddlebags were still stinky, but they weren't bad as long as she didn't actually stick her face in them. Or wear them. She really didn't want to wear them, so she levitated them along a safe distance away from her.

"Soap work alright?" Lindsey asked as she left the locker room.

"Well enough. I think it might take a few more rounds." Moonstruck nodded. "Can you smell me at all?"

"Not really." Lindsey scowled. "Not from here." She leaned in closer. "A little, up close."

"It'll do for now." Moonstruck shrugged. "I wonder if baking soda will get the smell out of my saddlebags."

"I'm sure Buster will know in a little while." Lindsey smiled, then hesitated a moment. "Uh, Max said you may have found the shield spell in the High Energy Magic Building?"

"Yeah, looks like. It's probably an unfinished version." Moonstruck grunted.

"Can I get a copy? I mean, I know I can't cast spells or anything, but I can do the math part, and Wenchell can probably -"

"Oh, yeah, sure, just bring me some paper or something to copy it down." Moonstruck pulled her notebook out of her saddle bag. "I can do the math, but I'm not great at it. It's good to have more eyes on this thing."

Lindsey gaped at her, clearly taken aback. "I... er, gimme a sec."

Moonstruck stopped as the little unicorn galloped off. She was back less than a minute later with a small stack of papers between her teeth.

"Sorry if they're a little wet!" Lindsey panted.

"It's fine." Moonstruck grunted, levitating the paper as she flipped to the page with the spell on it in her notebook. She read over the spell and equations once, then cast a spell that allowed her to copy it onto several sheets of paper Lindsey had brought her. "That's three copies. One for you, one for Wenchell, and one for the prince. You know not to try casting it, right?"

She floated them back over to the flabbergasted unicorn.

"That's a useful spell! And thanks! We won't try to cast it." She reared up to grab the stack of papers with her hooves and tucked them close to her chest with one leg. Then she hesitated again, looking slightly to the side before pulling her ears back a little, and shifting her gaze back up.

"Um, also... I kinda wanted to apologize for Max. He... um... has had to do some pretty horrible things and, well he has a hard time with ponies possibly getting hurt because of him, and he has a bad habit of blaming himself even though there's nothing he could have done."

"I kinda figured. And he already apologized. It's fine, really." Moonstruck waved a hoof dismissively, then stifled a yawn. "I'm gonna head back and get some sleep. Have fun playing with the numbers."

"Heh, heh, yeah. Catch you later, I guess." Lindsey chuckled, then sketched a short, awkward bow. "Er, Your Highness."

"Just Moonstruck is fine." Moonstruck rolled her eyes and sighed. Then she teleported back to the maintenance door outside the tower.

Stealth aside, this was why she didn't want them to know she was a princess. A duchess was more approachable than a princess, hooves down. It didn't help that princesses only ever bowed to queens (or Celestia whom was a queen in every practical way). She had never been comfortable with being the second highest authority back home, and she certainly wasn't comfortable with it here. _Especially_ here. It had taken her most of her life thus far to be ignored back home, and it would likely take her at least that much time to be ignored here, once everything was wrapped up. Considering her role in all this, it could potentially take eons.

* * *

A/N: Starswirl gets around, man. I was pretty amused when they found some Starswirl stuff at the end of last season 'cause it kinda lined up with what I had here. Only had to tweak it to add the Old Ponish stuff.


	27. Chapter 26

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Lindsey stared at the empty space the princess had just been in, then looked down at the stack of papers she was holding. She needed to get these to Wenchell and Max. She spun around and hobbled back down the hall, past the decontamination showers, past the corridor that led to the main dorms. She turned left at the next intersection, then pushed through the third door on the right. It was their main brainstorming conference room/joint office, complete with a plethora of chalkboards, books, scrap paper up the wazoo and even an overhead projector. Wenchell was already at his desk on the left-hoof side of the room, dourly sifting through his notes from the University.

"I dunno, those books about alicorns are pretty dang old – I dunno if the queen would have bothered to change something like that. Destroy them, sure, but not edit them." He commented as she limped in.

Lindsey shrugged and set the papers down on one of the long center tables. "Well, Princess Moonstruck would probably know better than us."

"Unless she doesn't know how it works either." Wenchell pointed out. He squinted at the pile of papers. "Whatcha got there?"

"Probably _the_ shield spell."

Wenchell sputtered and scrambled over to take a look at them.

"She and Max found it in the High Energy Magic Building."

"This is – wow this is a mess!" He flicked his eyes back and forth across the pages. "How'd you get her to give you a copy? Three copies?"

"I asked." Lindsey shrugged.

He laughed softly. "I'll transfer this over to the big chalkboard – are you gonna - ?"

"Taking one up to Max, yeah. Could you put this one on my desk?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks." Lindsey shuffled off to one of the many cardboard boxes lining the room to find a saddlebag. They'd been using this base for a couple of years now, but they never did fully unpack everything. She was never sure if it was laziness, or the reality that they'd probably have to pack up and move again at a moments notice if there was even a hint that their base had been compromised. Thus far they'd gotten lucky and had only had to move house a couple of times, but the possibility still lurked at the back of her mind. Of all their minds, most likely.

Finding a bag, she picked it up in her mouth, spun, and trotted back to the table to stuff the papers in to it, before wiggling under the bags so that they rested across her flanks.

"I'll be back in a little while, probably."

Wenchell let out a vague grunt as she started out of the room.

"Did you observe the dragon, as I asked!?" Geode asked as she hobbled in the doorway, sidling sideways as Lindsey passed.

"Not now, Geode, this is important." She heard Wenchell groan.

"Well, I can't go down to the university, so I can't study him myself – somebody has to do it, and that pony is you!"

Lindsey chuckled as their voices faded away behind her. The trip up stairs was considerably easier with all four legs free. Maxs' office was up in what at one time would have been the forponies office – a room overlooking the warehouse, complete with large picture windows and a balcony. Fern appeared at the doorway as Lindsey stepped off the last stair, looking a bit concerned.

"How's he doing?" She asked.

Fern glanced up. "Okay, I think. He's pretty quiet."

"Did he tell you what happened down there?" Lindsey came to a stop as the other unicorn passed her.

"Not really. Just that it was nerve wracking." Fern sighed, pausing a moment as well. "He has his blanket."

Lindsey pulled her ears back and frowned. Now probably wasn't a good time to deliver the spell, but they also really needed to start figuring it out. She looked up the hall at the open door, mulling over waiting until later.

"I don't think he's _that_ bad." Fern murmured, following her gaze. "Just rattled."

"Right." Lindsey nodded firmly and started off again. "Catch you later."

"Yeah."

Max did indeed have his blanket, but it was simply draped over his shoulders – he wasn't huddled in it as he was wont to do after an especially stressful event. He was seated by the far window with a cup of tea steaming gently beside him on the window ledge, staring off into space.

She cleared her throat as she stepped into the room. "The Princess gave us a few copies of the spell to study."

"Mm? Oh, good."

Lindsey eyed him curiously as she walked over to his desk. He didn't turn to look at her, but he also didn't seem particularly unsettled from here, at least. "You okay?"

"Recovering." He grunted, then said more softly, "protector of the realm."

"Pardon?" She pulled the papers out and set them on the desk, then sidled towards him.

"What the Du – er, Princess said. About being a princess. She didn't use the term, exactly, but she's a protector of the realm, where she comes from."

Lindsey furrowed her brow. "That lines up with a lot of the lore we've found."

"Yes, I know, but it's one thing to read it in a book, and another thing to see it in action. Especially after..." he waved a hoof vaguely.

"Right. So that's what's got you all...?" She gestured to the blanket.

He looked down, then chuckled. "Oh! No, I'm still shaking from what happened in the High Energy Magic Building, and the creatures."

"And what happened in the High Energy Magic Building?"

He told her. By the end of it she was staring intensely into space as well. "A memory of your mother was in there?"

"Yes."

"That must have been horrible!"

"It was."

"But what about the – the, what the university was like back before all of this?"

"That was weird, but amazing." Max nodded. "You should have seen it! And the valley back before the city was built – before anyone even lived here was... there was grass, Lindsey! Green grass! And trees! And the river was running properly! And the stars – so many stars! An entire sky of more stars than you could ever even hope to count!"

He sighed heavily then carefully took a sip of tea.

A comfortable silence settled between them as Lindsey mulled over what else she needed to do today. Most of it involved setting up their next meeting, tackling the spell, and a nap, at some point. Not necessarily in that order. She was inclined to nap first, but she knew she needed to go down and see how Wenchell was doing, at least. If Geode was hanging around he likely hadn't done much. Actually, Geode might be useful in that she might be able to figure out why the strange creatures inhabiting the underground city didn't seem to notice Joseph, even when he tried to set them on fire. If she could get Geode on that thought train, it'd free up Wenchell to start going over the spell. He'd handle the magical portion, she'd take on the equations.

Reluctantly she got to her hooves. "Well, I should head back down stairs to start figuring that thing out."

* * *

A few hours later, after another bath and a nap in the sun, Moonstruck took a crack at the spell as well. She spread her papers out on the bedroom floor and sat down in the middle of them, absently tapping a pencil on the hardwood.

"What were you trying to do..." She muttered to herself.

The recognizable part of the spell was a variation on the city protection type spell she was familiar with. The calculations for it were off, however. She ignored the other components of the spell for the time being and just focused on the base shield spell, correcting the coordinates in the equation, and cleaning up the messier parts of the incantation.

Once that was done she cast it over a pillow. It wasn't anything special. Canceling the spell, she started working backwards, removing one of her fixes and replacing it with what was originally there. The shield became less and less effective as she did, and it curiously required considerably more power with each thing she replaced. Finally she got down to the equation itself.

"With a correct equation behind it, it doesn't work very well as written." She mused aloud.

"Are you gonna try casting it with the bad math?" Joseph asked from her doorway.

"I am not that stupid." Moonstruck grunted, then glanced up at him. She was surprised he'd slept as long as he had out on the balcony – it was scorching out there!

He rubbed one eye with the back of his hand and blinked blearily at her. "That's good to hear. What'll you think would happen?"

"An explosion, probably." She nudged the paper away from herself and pulled one of the mystery components of the spell closer. "Or an implosion, maybe. Can never be too sure, with these."

He grunted, stared off into space for a minute then turned around. "Gonna go nap in the shade now."

Moonstruck chuckled softly, then went back to work. The portion of the spell that reminded her of a power crystal set-up seemed to be just that, only fragmented and vague. It was very much a work in progress, but she couldn't figure out why the professor had been trying to cook one up from scratch, instead of modifying an already established spell. They had power crystals back then, there was no reason to reinvent the wheel. Well, unless he was trying to do something that had never been done before. Like power a large shield with a power crystal for an extended period of time.

It was Glendas turn to wander in. "How's it going?"

"Eh." Moonstruck shrugged. "This is a really early version of the spell, I think."

"So... not very useful?"

"I don't know yet." She shook her head. "And, well, either he was very bad at math, or all of these weird miscalculations are right, but something beyond what I can recognize."

"Hmm." Glenda frowned down at the papers. "I think Lindsey is good at math."

"Yeah, that's why I gave her a copy."

"Good."

"He doesn't even designate a type of crystal." Moonstruck squinted at her original notes. "Usually you use quartz, since it's a good magic conductor and it's easy to get. Maybe he figured that was a given? But different gemstones can sync up better with different spells, so most ponies designate what sort of gem to use when they cook up stuff like this, even when it's obvious..."

"Maybe he hadn't gotten to that part yet?" Glenda offered.

"Maybe."

"What about the big crystals down in the mines Joseph was telling me about?"

Moonstruck blinked a few times and sat up a little straighter. "Those are special. We don't usually harvest them because they're so big, but theoretically you could use one for all sorts of stuff."

She stared down at the spell. "It would take a lot of them to power a shield this size – probably more than what's down in the crystal mines. And they would have to be strategically placed around the country. Possibly with an extensive network of smaller crystals to act as relays and... it would just be too complex. Somepony would have had to have noticed something like that being set up. There would have been records of it; invoices, work orders, heavy equipment, roads, supply lists, payrolls - the Historical Society would have easily found all of that in the archives they have access to."

"And it would take power." Glenda added.

"An astronomical amount of power. You can set the network up, but without some way to power it, it's useless." Moonstruck shook her head. "Well, not _useless_ , but you couldn't do what Lucena has done."

There was a knock at the door. Moonstruck and Glenda looked up, then Glenda trotted out into the center of the room, but slowed as she reached the sofa, flicking an ear to her right.

Joseph lifted his head from his spot in the corner and looked off to the right as well... though technically it was his left. A little tingle of alarm crept down her spine as Moonstruck got to her hooves and poked her head into the living room. The others were staring at the tapestry.

Their visitor knocked again. From the secret door.

They exchanged glances. There was a very short list of ponies who could be behind that door. He'd better have a bucking good reason to drop in on them like this.

Moonstruck motioned Glenda and Joseph (whom had crept out of the corner) aside, and threw the tapestry back. She flung the door open, then stifled a laugh as the prince managed to maintain his scrunched up position for a moment before falling into the room.

"It's tighter in there than I remember!" The prince coughed as the dust settled. "Though I think I was a bit smaller the last time I used them for anything."

He untangled himself and got to his hooves. "Ahem, yes, sorry to intrude, but Lindsey seems to have figured out the mathematical portion of the spell."

Moonstruck felt her jaw drop open. That was a pretty darn good reason! "You're kidding!?"

"No, no, she's familiar with the mathematical theory the professor was utilizing! It, well it's all gibberish to me, but - "

"What theory is it?" Moonstruck asked as she trotted back in to her room to clean up. "Keep talkin, I'm just gonna gather this up."

"Oh, uh, something called... what was it... Quantum Thaumology?"

Moonstruck stopped and spun around to stare at the prince through her open door, papers floating around her. "Lindsey knows _Quantum_ _Thaumology_? That's gotta be one of the highest, most difficult levels of magical mathematical theory!"

"Ah, yes, as I said. All gibberish to me." The prince ducked his head sheepishly. "I was never very good at math."

"No one's good at that! Well, very few ponies. I think it's only even offered as a major at one university in Germaney or something! And there's maybe a hundred ponies world wide who can even work with it and maybe like, six who have come close to mastering it!" Moonstruck shook her head and finished gathering her papers. She summoned her saddlebags from the balcony, confirmed they were dry (sunlight seemed to banish the stink) shoved them back in the saddelbag, plopped the bag on her back, then trotted out into the living room.

"Oh! So, I presume you can - "

Moonstruck burst out laughing as she trotted up to him. "Are you kidding me!? I barely squeaked through advanced arcane equations!"

"But you're a princess..." The prince furrowed his brow.

"Yeah, not a mathematician." Moonstruck snorted. "Or a very good student. You two coming?"

"I'm pretty tired." Glenda frowned.

"I slept in the sun too long." Joseph grumbled.

Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "Fine, be back later. Enjoy being lazy."

"Will do." Joseph saluted as Glenda chuckled.

The prince nodded and turned around to go back the way he'd come in, then grimaced.

"Oh wait, lemme get rid of the dust." Moonstruck grunted. She magicked it back into the storage closet in a neighboring suite they'd been using as a dust containment area, then shut the secret door. "It's just faster this way."

She teleported them down to the maintenance door. The prince let out a startled yelp as they materialized in the magic moss illuminated corridor. He turned and gave her a startled look.

"Could you perhaps warn me before you do that?"

"Yeah, sure." She pushed past him to open the door. Stepping through, she stood aside to let him exit as well, then closed it behind him. "Alright, to the warehouse."

"Okay."

She teleported them to the warehouse, which startled a number of ponies whom had been nearby. Grinning sheepishly at the ponies, she let the prince lead her across the warehouse, onto the loading docks, then back through one of the large sets of doors – the same one she and Joseph went through earlier to get to the decontamination showers. They passed those on the right as they went, then made their way through what Moonstruck guessed was the dormitory area of their headquarters, then into a side passage.

The prince knocked briefly on a partially open door before pushing through it. "Okay, got her."

"Good!" Lindsey looked over and beamed as they trotted in. Wenchell did not look up from what he was writing down.

"Alright, what'cha got?" Moonstruck asked, running her eyes over the chalkboards they had set up. The spell and it's accompanying equations were written very neatly across the board, and a number of other equations, diagrams, graphs and doodles were scrawled messily below it.

"It's quantum thaumology – _bad_ quantum thaumology." Lindsey gestured to one obscenely complex equation that had the shield spells odd equation scribbled in next to it. "Sorry it's so messy, but I was writing very quickly, er..."

Wenchell cleared his throat very loudly.

" _Wenchell,_ was actually writing, because he can write much faster than I can. Anyway..." She rolled her eyes. "As near as I can tell, Professor Buttonbeau was attempting to create a self sustaining shield. But either he hadn't gotten into it very far, or he vastly overestimated his abilities."

"I wouldn't have attempted to cast that spell as it's written, with that equation." Moonstruck grunted and nodded. "When you clean the spell up it's a pretty standard city-protection shield spell."

Lindsey nodded. "That's what Wenchell guessed. So we're kind of leaning towards the overestimation reason. Anyway, when you correct the equation he has here, you end up with this." She tapped the very long, very complex equation.

"As near as I can tell, it wouldn't work either, but it's an interesting bit of math to play around with."

Moonstruck chuckled. "I still can't believe you understand quantum thaumology."

Lindsey giggled and flipped the chalkboard in question over. "In more conventional arcane equations, it would look something more like this, I think."

This, Moonstruck recognized. It was layers upon layers of shield spell algorithms, but none of them were linked together very well, and the math was still off in places, which was likely Lindsey trying to present the formula basically as is.

"Yeah, no I don't think this would work."

She moved closer to the chalkboard and found a free space to scribble something down. "Actually, if you have a chain reaction spell you can reduce a lot of this redundancy, but this section over here is still wrong." She jotted down the chain reaction spell her father developed, then tapped the erroneous line in question.

"And he's still using negative numbers on the Z-axis. That's the biggest no-no." She stepped back to let Lindsey, Wenchell, and the prince have a look at what she'd written down.

"This is really nifty!" Lindsey declared, tapping the chain reaction spell. "I bet it's really useful."

"It is." Moonstruck nodded. A simpler version of that spell let her operate the puppet, and a more complex one had allowed her to successfully rescue Lindsey right under the queens nose.

"My dad came up with it."

"He must be extremely powerful!" Wenchell gaped up at her.

"No, he was extremely clever." Moonstruck chuckled. "Most of his best spells are based on already existing stuff, just used in novel ways."

"Was?" The prince frowned.

"Yeah, he died a few years ago. Old age. He and mom didn't get together until later in his life."

"Ah. I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

"Okay, so this probably won't get the same results, but I'm pretty sure we can fix up this equation with this spell to cast it safely." Lindsey grunted.

"I basically already did. It's a pretty standard shield spell." Moonstruck shrugged. "The more weird stuff you add to it, the worse it works."

Lindsey and Wenchell groaned.

"Was afraid of that." Wenchell grumbled.

"But, I also didn't know what he was trying to do when I was fiddling with it, so we can probably tweak it with self sustainability in mind."

"We may not have to!" Lindsey chirped, scuttling down to another chalkboard. On it was the power crystal creation spell. "He uses the same attempted quantum thaumology over here too. I figure he was trying to link the spells, so your chain reaction spell might fill in some gaps."

They shifted down to the chalkboard in question to examine the spell. This one was even more long and complex than the first, and the corrected math was absolutely mind boggling. Lindsey flipped the board over to get to a more standard way of attaining things, only to reveal the same sort of redundancy and incorrect numbers.

"Why negatives?" Moonstruck murmured. "Negative numbers on the Z-axis _never_ work. That's why the spell blew up in his face."

"What if his math _isn't_ bad, and he's just doing something so obscure we can't recognize it?" Wenchell asked.

"You don't get much more obscure than quantum thaumology. Maybe he was trying to teach himself how to do it?" Moonstruck hazarded.

"He had enough knowledge of it to write out equations and link them to spells." Lindsey furrowed her brow.

"Yeah, but you said it's bad." Moonsrtuck glanced at the little palomino.

"It _is_ bad." Lindsey shrugged helplessly.

"Maybe we can retrace his steps, somewhat?" The prince asked into the grumpy silence that followed. "Try to figure out the chain of events that led up to casting the spell?"

"I don't think that'll help us any – I mean, he was clearly developing this, so it was probably a typical day at the lab." Wenchell shook his head.

"Wait... not the professor, the queen." Moonstruck turned around to look at the prince, whom was leaning against a table. "What led up to her raising the shield?"

"Why the queen?" Lindsey asked as the prince rolled his eyes up and opened his mouth.

"Professor Buttonbeau probably did this at least partially by accident." Moonstruck gestured to the chalkboards. "The spell is incomplete – it's nowhere near a point where you can safely do a test run, but he probably didn't think so. I'm thinking he cast it thinking his math was correct. Lucena, however, cast the spell deliberately."

"I'm going to assume you want a quick version of what led up to the shield?" The prince piped.

"Yes, please." The three of them said in unison.

He chuckled and ducked his head. "Right, er... I don't suppose the particulars of the politics matter in this case, it's the raising of the shield itself. Anyway, Mother had apparently pushed the world too far when she began attacking neighboring fiefdoms. Princesses Celestia and Luna were incoming with an army comprised of seven pony and griffon nations with the intent of removing her from the throne, and placing the country under the control of the United Equid Confederacy. Mother, of course, would have none of it, and – by official accounts – she used her godlike powers to erect a mighty shield over the country."

The prince shifted his weight. "Less official accounts say this as well, however, there are newspaper clippings from the time that indicate the shield was not very good at first. Our outer territories were easily invaded, and a number of magical blasts were able to push through the shield on our eastern border and destroy a few bases, and a number of ships and airships. It wasn't until Mother met the princesses in battle that the shield strengthened enough to withstand their most powerful attack, which then triggered a series of devastating earthquakes that - "

"Were so powerful that they broke the world." Moonstruck breathed. "Wait... wait, wait, wait! I think I know what happened."

She scrambled over to the chalkboard with the spells as written and looked over them again, this time with a different intent in mind. "What happens if you plug in the formula for absorbing magic in front of every negative number?"

Lindsey went pale, exchanged glances with Wenchell, whom quickly erased a portion of their scribblings to jot down the revised spell, leaving it otherwise un-tweaked. They spoke softly to one another as they worked. Then, satisfied, Lindsey moved to a mostly clean chalkboard to jot down a more conventional equation. Then she added a little something after that Moonstruck had been pondering herself.

"Well, that would do it." Moonstruck muttered after Lindsey finished.

"You lost me." The prince winced.

"It's an absolutely lousy shield spell." Moonstruck gestured to the chalkboard. "Unless you hit it with an astronomical amount of power. Like, say, the power of two alicorns, any number of unicorns, and the Elements of Harmony."

"Then it does a very nice job of absorbing all of that power."

The princes jaw dropped open as Lindsey and Wenchell made some sort of holy hoof symbols in front of themselves.

"But that - !?"

"Because the spell is still pretty haphazard, it has a number of side effects and quirks." Moonstruck could feel that familiar rage bubbling up in her guts, and her voice became lower, and more harsh because of it.

"For one thing, it doesn't physically keep anything out. It doesn't have to. The shield sustains itself on ambient magic, but it's entirely self contained, so it can only draw power from what lies beneath it, which means everything underneath it will suffer from magical decay, and the worst of that decay is at the edges."

"The distortion..." The prince murmured.

"The further away you get from the edges, the more it just absorbs power. Which means everypony gets to slowly adapt to a low magic environment, as the shield sucks the country dry. When did ponies stop gaining their cutie marks? It was more recent, wasn't it? In the last few generations? Cutie mark magic is strong and deep, it would be one of the last innate magical qualities to go."

"We already know the country should have been sucked dry years ago." Lindsey nodded slowly, staring up at the chalkboards. "This partially explains it – I think. The spell is shoddily pieced together, so it maybe can only manage to absorb power at a trickle? It seems like it should move faster though."

"She even said getting rid of them made things easier." Moonstruck spat. "She did this. She has deliberately stripped ponies of their freedom, their power even their _identities and destinies_!"

Oh, if only she had claws! Digging claws into the hardwood floor would be satisfying right now! She had to settle for stomping a hoof and fanning her wings.

"Er... Princess?"

Moonstruck squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get her anger under control. She'd spent too many years herself lost and isolated without a cute mark. Even _with_ one she wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do with herself most of the time. But to do _this_ , to purposefully do this to somepony, much less an _entire country,_ to make them feel so lost, so _worthless_...

"P-Princess, the floor is smoldering, um..."

She forced out a long breath and opened her eyes, finally clamping down on her anger, and the magic that was instinctively trying to summon forth a nice lava pit for Lucena to be shoved in to.

"Sorry." She sighed. "Alright, we have the why, and the how, now we need to bring the shield down."

"I don't know how to do that without casting the spell." Wenchell grimaced.

Moonstruck flicked her eyes over the equations yet again. "I do. We probably can't overwhelm the shield, but we should be able to disrupt it. Cut off its main power supply."

"How do we cut it off from the whole country?" Lindsey wrinkled her snout.

"You said before this doesn't fully explain the rate of magical decay. There's probably a secondary power source. And I have two guesses what, or rather, who they are." She shifted her gaze to the prince. "You said your mother could summon Magmanus. How?"

"I don't know." He grimaced. "She's never told me, just threatens to do it."

"We need to check her power levels ASAP." Moonstruck snapped, spinning and heading towards the door, dimly aware of the hoofprints seared into the wood floor behind her. "You said yourself there's dragon magic everywhere here. If I'm right, she's probably been using the dragon as a battery back-up, which would slow the rate of decay. If she can summon him like she claims, they're probably linked together somehow."

"Ah, wha – you aren't going to do anything rash, are you?" The prince stammered, scrambling after her.

"Not yet. I need to know how they're linked and – ah, we should see how powerful the shield actually is – is there a way to do that?" She threw a glance at him.

"Er... theoretically the magical detection equipment at the Round can - "

"Good, is there anything like that here?"

"Uh, no. And I doubt we can make off with the equipment, as it's rather large and delicate." He grimaced.

"Hmm. I might be able to re-purpose one of those power level detection spells. We don't need anything super accurate, just ballpark will do – hey Lindsey, can you and Wenchell set up a basic power crystal?" She called the last bit over her shoulder, the unicorns were a cautious distance behind.

"Er... theoretically?" Wenchell gave her a confused look. "I mean, I've never tried."

"And can you find a really big crystal? Ideally quartz."

"Yeah, that's the easy part." He chuckled nervously.

"Good. I'm gonna assume Lindsey can figure out how powerful and stable the shield is based on readings of ambient magic levels."

"Yeah, I think so." She perked up a little.

"Alright. The next time I spend some quality time with the queen, I'm gonna get a power reading. Max, is there any way to do the same for Magmanus?"

He looked absolutely horrified by the prospect. "Goodness no! Dragons are considerably more sensitive than ponies are, and I wouldn't know how to activate the spell, and - "

"Right, I don't know a spell to detect dragon magic anyway." Moonstruck shook her head. "Though Joseph might be able to help me with that."

She stopped as they reached the loading docks and turned around. "Alright, you two, find that crystal. Max, I'm gonna need a complete list of all of your magic users and their overall abilities. I need to head back to fill Joseph and Glenda in, and get the power level spell ready. I wanna meet back here as soon as possible after I have the reading, sound good?"

They nodded, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Alright, catch ya later."


	28. Chapter 27

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Max was beginning to sense that gaping stupidly at the space Princess Moonstruck had previously been occupying was going to be par for the course for the immediate future. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to ponies teleporting willy nilly. Or... at all, really. Even Mother didn't do it very often.

He shook his head and looked back at the others as a strange feeling started to bubble up in his chest. It wasn't hope exactly, but an odd sort of excitement that had a bit of trepidation wrapped up with it. To be fair, most of his strong emotions had at least a little trepidation mixed in.

Lindsey gave him a flat stare, eyebrows somewhere up beneath her forelock. Wenchell was still staring at the empty space.

"What?"

"Nothin'." She grinned.

It was Max's turn for a flat stare, although his eyebrows didn't stray quite so far. "Really, what?"

"You just had the goofiest grin just now."

"No I didn't."

"You were blushing a little too."

"What? No I wasn't!" Trepidation and excitement were slipping more towards self consciousness and general confusion.

"How big of a crystal do you think she meant?" Wenchell blurted, apparently finishing whatever thought had occupied him up until this point, and inadvertently sparing Max something likely very embarrassing.

"I dunno." Lindsey shrugged. "What do you think she's going to do with it?"

"Use it as a focusing point for an ambient magical detection spell, probably." Wenchell furrowed his brow. "Its range will probably be dictated by its size... we should probably get the biggest one we can find." He spun and trotted back the way they'd come. They had a pretty decent collection of crystals tucked away in one of their smaller warehouses – some of them quite large. They couldn't really use them for the most part, but Max had always had trouble throwing away things that might prove useful someday.

Unfortunately, Wenchell leaving meant Lindsey could pick up her line of cryptic teasing again. Max sighed as she grinned cheekily at him.

"Ugh, just say it!" He huffed.

"Mmmm... nah. I'm not a hundred percent yet. Gotta do some more observation." She scowled and promptly trotted off.

Max slumped and let out a long suffering groan. Sometimes he really wished Lindsey would just stick to numbers. He also really wished he could dig out his list of magic users now, but he'd already spent too much time with the Historical Society today. He needed to go topside and keep up at least a few appearances.

Unlike Princess Moonstruck, he had to trot back to the surface. He made his way out onto the loading docks, letting Buster know he was heading out as he passed him.

"Yeah, alright. It'll be a day or two before I can get a solvent to get that stink out." Buster called after him. "It's weird stuff. I mean, we can clearly smell it, but it's not turning up in any tests we run."

"Do your best, then." Max called over his shoulder. He just caught Busters shrug out of the corner of his eye.

He didn't really want to be reminded of what happened this morning, but he grimly decided to puzzle it over as he went. The strange, fantastical, and at one point, horrifying things tucked away in the High Energy Magic Building were not what truly troubled him. No one had ever seen so many of those creatures out at once, much less during the wan daylight that the underground city possessed. Even back when they first discovered the place, and foolishly stayed past "dark" there had not been so many of them. And they were never focused. They would follow, and try to lure ponies away, but they never joined up into a massive herd like that.

So why now?

Was it the princess? Was it something about alicorn magic? Going by their lackluster reaction to Joseph, it was possible his mixed ancestry and stunted magical powers protected him somewhat from their attentions, but Moonstruck was 100% pony; fully charged, extensively trained, and of a very powerful line of alicorns.

Max was sorely tempted to send a party down to the university tomorrow to see if things went back to normal. If it truly was the princess that was drawing the creatures out, they would have to rethink their library pillaging expeditions for the immediate future. He didn't like the thought of either of those things. He much preferred to accompany search parties to the university; even with his limited abilities he was still one of the strongest magic users, and could offer the best protection. But without Moonstruck there to direct their searches, they were back to where they were before; sifting through books without the knowledge to find what they were looking for. They could have whole arsenals of useful information right in front of their noses and not know it.

He probably _should_ send a small party down before things really got going. He had no idea when Mother would call upon Moonstruck next, and no idea when Moonstruck might drop in on them again to figure out the condition of the countries ambient magic. And there was just so much to plan! They were still working out the best escape routes, but still weren't sure how many ponies they could devote to any evacuation efforts if need be. They barely had enough to hold the tower and surrounding neighborhoods, provided the residents of the neighborhoods cooperated. Could they really spare enough ponies to deal with a disaster?

Figuring out a way to take the tower – much less the city – was proving difficult to plan as well. There were simply too many unknowns. Their most conservative plan involved taking the tower (which relied on neutralizing Mother first – the biggest unknown), and the neighborhoods immediately around it. From there they would push out over several days to take more and more of the city. He didn't even want to consider the less conservative plans – they were entirely too risky, and would stretch their forces impossibly thin.

Max blinked and slid to a stop as he realized he'd just trotted past his turn. He backpedaled then ducked off down a side passage, resuming his contemplative trot. Voices echoed up ahead, bringing him to a stop again. He realized belatedly that he'd forgotten his cloak. Panic slammed in to him and he galloped back down to the main waterway. He paused a moment to listen for the approaching ponies, then hopped down into the canal. Body low to the ground, he crept along until he found a culvert where a pipe emptied into the canal under the walkway above and hastily wriggled in to it. He was out of sight of any ponies on the walkway above him, and presumably it was too dark for any ponies on the opposite bank to spot him in here. They should really install gates on a few of these things so that he could hide in them if he needed to. He wasn't foolish enough to remove the grate entirely, they'd need it if ever it rained again.

The voices grew closer as he trembled in the cramped pipe. Soon he could hear hoofsteps as well. Thankfully the ponies turned the direction opposite the one he had taken, and were soon well away. Max heaved a sigh, awkwardly wiped a bit of sweat off his brow, then wriggled out of the culvert. Pausing to listen, he glanced around to be sure he was alone, then scrambled back up on to the walkway.

"Right, where was I?" He muttered to himself as he made his way back to the side passage. Oh yes, the plans. Plans they'd been planning for years but have never been able to pin down. Plans that really needed thousands more ponies to pull off effectively. Plans that were probably moot, since Mother will just call Father in to destroy the city, then the country, and eventually the entire world. He gritted his teeth and shook his head. He wasn't supposed to think about that last part. Pretty much everyone in the main command group had threatened to kick his rump if he brought it up again at meetings. He'd probably only gotten away with it during their meeting with the princess because she didn't know it was a real possibility.

He lifted his head a little as he realized that Moonstruck knew it was a possibility, but didn't seem particularly bothered by the prospect. _Why?_ She didn't know how impossibly huge and powerful Magmanus was – of this he was certain. That could be it. Ignorance is bliss, after all. Then again, he'd spent his entire life thinking it was impossible to come and go from the tower undetected, but she and her companions had been doing so for weeks. Perhaps in among the things she knew that they didn't was something about dragons. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that she was grossly underestimating the old lizard.

He reached the next turn and took a left. Unfortunately, even with the knowledge that he could come and go from the tower via the secret passageways, he did not often have that luxury, as most of his forays down to the Historical Society had to happen when he wasn't already at home. They had a front set up at a temple devoted to Raysel - whom was generally the patron ancestor of choice for princes - for just such occasions. Royal decorum paid off for once, as he was able to restore the temple (which mother had allowed to fall into ruin as she was not one for ancestor worship, and only showed superficial devotion to Rosalina for political reasons) without question, and thus fully staff it with Historical Society members. If he was going to do any Society business, it started and ended at the temple.

Reaching the end of the passage, he turned around to listen for a moment before carefully pressing a hoof against one stone. A faint pop sounded from directly in front of him, then a stone higher up on the wall retreated inwards. He used magic to pull a lever that was hidden out of sight, which opened a narrow door just a crack. Checking once more to be sure he was alone, he pushed the door open and squeezed through. He softly shut the door behind himself, listened for the whirrs and clicks of the locking mechanism, then started up an equally narrow staircase. Three stories later he was at the sublevel of the temple.

"How'd it go?" One of the acolytes asked as he stepped out of the hidden door in the basement. They always kept someone on guard in the basement to let him know if it was safe to come out or not.

"Uh... interesting. I need to get moving, but it'll be detailed in the monthly meeting." He trotted past her to the back stairs.

"Aww. Wait, when is it again?"

Max paused at the open doorway to the stairwell and furrowed his brow. "Saturday after next."

"I have to wait that long!" The unicorn whined.

"Go ask Lindsey or Wenchell when your shift is over, they know everything already." He sighed.

"Oh, okay. That I can do." She chirped.

Max rolled his eyes and headed up the stairs. Six stories later, he emerged in the innermost meditation room. It was a sacred chamber only accessible to himself, and the highest priests of the temple. It was also where he'd officially been this entire time. No one had any trouble believing he needed to spend half a day in quiet meditation after dealing with Mother on a daily basis.

He wished he had time to actually mediate. Or at least take a nap. He checked himself in a mirror behind a heavy velvet curtain at the back of the room to make sure he didn't have any sticks or anything in his mane or tail, frowned at the bags under his eyes that never seemed to go away, then let out a long sigh. It had already been a long day, but it was far from over. Steeling himself, he schooled his face in to his most aloof, and detached expression, raised his head high, and strode out into the meditation room.

Although the temple was a front, he had gone to great lengths to restore it to its former glory, and the inner meditation room was a work of art unto itself. A circular, high ceilinged room topped with a dome, and surrounded by tall, intricately carved pillars. The ceiling mosaic was an exquisite rendition of the night sky, the room was draped in dark maroon and midnight blue silks, and there was a great, rose shaped reflection pool in the very center that reflected the natural light filtering in from the high, narrow windows in soothing ripples. There was no furniture in the room, only a few thin mats upon which ponies would theoretically do their meditation to spare their rumps from the cold, hard marble floor. It was dark, it was cool, it was peaceful, and Max wished he actually got to spend time in it, instead of merely passing through it.

There was not a true door to the meditation room, just an arched entryway. He stepped through it and turned right to walk up a wide, airy hall that circled the room a quarter turn before making a sharp left. Here there was a door; dark oak carved with twinning roses at the hooves of a rearing alicorn stallion. He pushed it open, threw a quick glance at the attending priest (whom nodded faintly in turn), and continued on out in to the more public parts of the temple. His honor guard would be waiting down on the ground floor, likely bored to tears. They, at least, could get some extra sleep. He envied them a little.

Ponies touring the temple parted for him as he strode past, casting their eyes downwards. A few of the more affluent ponies attempted to strike up conversations but he dismissed them, muttering that he had important affairs to attend to. A priestess appeared with his honor guard in tow as he reached the ground floor. The guards looked groggy until they spotted him, then sprang nervously to attention.

The priestess bowed as they passed, then they were out the front doors, heading down the steps to where Max's personal shuttle was parked discreetly off to the side of the temple gardens. He let his gaze wander upwards as they descended the stairs, spotting the temple twin to this one due east on the other side of the city. Mother maintained the Temple of Rosalina, and while she hadn't let it fall into ruin as she had many of the other temples and gardens around the city, she also hadn't bothered to keep it quite to the level he maintained the Temple of Raysel. It was supposed to be bad luck to favor one twin over another, and it was always Rosalina – the more fiery and passionate of the two - whom handed down punishments.

Max often wondered what his mother was playing at, snubbing their founding ancestors in such a way. Then again, it was no secret she'd thrown in her lot with Magamanus, even though ponies and dragons have been in conflict for eons. She clearly didn't care much about what the ancestors might say about this.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, then turned left to circle the building to reach the landing pad hidden among the trees. He felt a little bad about keeping the temple grounds irrigated, but he absolutely had to keep up appearances. At least there was a good sized vegetable garden tucked away around back that they used to feed the poor patrons of the temple. It was perhaps the only charitable work he could publicly do. Temples were _supposed_ to provide for the community, it would be weird if it didn't – even Mother couldn't argue with that.

The struggle began once he was on the shuttle en route to the _Enforcer;_ he needed to stay awake. He had a long afternoon and evening of paperwork to do, and a few meetings to go to, but all he wanted to do was sleep. Mother would most likely finish rearranging her library sometime today, and she'd likely want to send him on some errand or another that would take him out of the city for at least a week – he'd need a full nights sleep to deal with that, but he likely wasn't going to get it. If it took longer to get back to his airship he could take a quick nap. Ten minutes wasn't really enough – and it would look odd if he was caught napping after he'd supposedly been meditating half the day.

They docked with the airship in short order. He soon found himself seated at his desk in his office going over paperwork, and counting down the minutes to his next meeting. It was amazing he ever got anything done, considering he spent most of his time carefully avoiding doing things. Mostly things his mother wanted him to do which were likely considered crimes against pony kind in the outside world.

No, he would not authorize the razing of a cluster of remote villages out in the Crystal Cut Valley for not meeting quotas. Yes, he _would_ authorize an audit to see what the problem was. No, there would be no repercussions for the loss of two hundred pegasai from Lord Godfreys personal detail, Max knew quite well where they went and they were in a much better situation than they were before, thank you very much! No, the Baron of Pastureton cannot plow down the poorest section of the city to build himself a new golf course. If he has enough water to irrigate a golf course, he can start sending his surplus to Bridle-Dur, and other drought affected areas.

It went on and on. Stupid, selfish, overblown requests piled on top of atrocious punishments for trivial crimes. It almost made him wish Magmanus _would_ fly down and destroy the country.

Meeting time rolled around, so he dragged himself to the big conference room to listen to reports of the various spies around the country groping for any excuse to drag some poor pony off the street and interrogate them for involvement in one of Mothers imagined conspiracies. What Mother didn't realize was that her paranoia made it impossible for any baron to attempt to undermine her, simply because her random acts of mass murder kept everyone too afraid to raise a hoof against her. The spies were desperate to cover their own rumps and nothing more. They were never able to dig up any evidence of anything, which was something of a point of pride for Max, while paradoxically being a bit of a sore spot since Mother mostly didn't suspect him of anything underhoofed because she thought he simply wasn't capable. It rankled him that it rankled him, so he generally tried not to think about it.

The meeting went on too long (as they usually do), his various commanders and spies got into various arguments that derailed the conversation (which they also usually do), and when they finally called it quits for the day, nothing much was accomplished. This was primarily why he wasn't sure what to do with his regiment; most of his commanders were somewhat incompetent. This was a deliberate move on Mothers part; any career military pony who proved too much of a fool for her tastes was moved to his forces. It certainly made things more difficult, though they were fairly grateful that they hadn't lost their heads after whatever blunder brought them to his doorstep, and were generally willing to go along with whatever dull, logical and entirely reasonable thing he had planned. A few of them were actually pretty good, once he figured out how to manage them. They weren't brilliant, by any means, but fairly reliable, and predictable enough that he could head them off at the pass if they were on track to make a particularly bad decision.

Once he finished up all the things he needed to do at the office, he took a shuttle back to the tower for a dinner meeting with upper brass. Meetings with the admirals and generals were generally about as productive as meetings with his own commanding officers, but here he couldn't ax any horrible ideas. He could only grunt and nod, and make a suggestion here and there, all while screaming silently to himself.

They finally decided they'd argued enough shortly after nine, a full two hours after the meeting should have ended. If Max could have gotten away with leaving early, he would have. He wearily wandered up to his chambers as soon as the meeting adjourned with every intention to fall into bed and sleep as late as he could, but fate had other plans.

No sooner had he finished brushing his teeth did his front door go crashing open with a loud bang. Mother appeared in his bedroom door a few stomps later, eyes ablaze.

"Maximus! I have had a brilliant idea!"

"Yes?" He asked, trying to muster up some semblance of enthusiasm and failing utterly.

"I realized while Kyrenai and I were re-cataloging my library, that the library in Quince has a complete collection of Zephyra Tidewells _Arcane Obscura_. I want it."

He knew where this was going, but he was too emotionally drained to go there without at least a little bit of a fight.

"I'm sure you can check it out through an inter-library loan."

"Silly colt, I want it in _my_ collection." She grinned deviously and rubbed her hands together. "I have just the perfect space for it too."

"I'll send someone out to fetch it first thing in the morning." Max yawned, stepping past her towards his bed.

"You will send yourself, of course!" Mother huffed. "I am giving you an important task, not some random chore to pass off to an underling!"

 _This is_ exactly _the sort of thing you pass off to an underling_ , Max thought sourly.

"Of course, Mother. I'll depart after breakfast."

"Take the _Enforcer_. I want you to make a show of it. Quince has been quiet up there lately, we need to remind them that we know they're there." She narrowed her eyes.

He hesitated, but decided not to push it any further as he flopped on his bed.

"Of course, Mother."

He was just about settled under the covers, when she let out an irate sigh.

"Well, aren't you going to see me out!?"

Experience told him she was not kidding. Sighing heavily, Max very reluctantly wiggled out from under the covers. "Yes, Mother. Of course, where are my manners?"

"Not present at all, lately. Do I have to send you back to etiquette class again?" She chided as he walked with her to the door. There was a new dent in the wall from where the door handle had slammed in to it, and a few brass pieces on the floor.

"That won't be necessary, I'm just tired." Max grimaced. He stopped in his doorway as Mother stepped out into the hall.

"Yes, well if you weren't up all night working you wouldn't be so tired all the time." She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.

"I _am_ overdue for a vacation." Max said flatly.

"Yes, yes, perhaps a holiday is in store. Have you been up to see Eira lately?"

His grimace deepened. "No, I am afraid not. Haven't had any reason to go that far north, since she has her own forces and manages by herself..."

"She does enjoy your visits."

"Yes..."

"Then again, I need you here for so many things." She frowned. "I'll have to think about it. Maybe just over to the shore for a few days respite. I haven't been to the beach house in some time..."

Max watched his mother wander up the hall, her honor guard hesitantly trailing after her as she mused aloud what was sounding more and more like _her_ vacation, instead of his. He made sure she was well away before he stepped back and cautiously closed the door. The handle was broken, and the wall actually had a few cracks in it, in addition to the dent. Making a mental note to fix the handle in the morning before he left (he had a stash of spare handles tucked away in a closet for just such occasions), he dragged over a heavy chair. Placing it firmly in front of the door, he spun around and nearly had a heart attack.

Princess Moonstruck, Joseph and Glenda were standing in the middle of the living room, grinning like Cheshire cats.

He stifled a scream, slid back to awkwardly sit in the chair, and placed a hoof over his racing heart. "What in blazes are you doing here!?"

"We figured out how to measure dragon magic." Moonstruck giggled. "Thought you might want to see."

"How did you find my chambers!?" He wheezed.

"Followed my nose." Joseph said, raising a hand.

"Ho-how long have you been there!?"

"We were walking up to the secret door when your Mom busted the door in. Didn't come in until just now though."

Max sank down to the floor, massaging his temples with his front hooves. "I've been awake too long, can we do this tomorrow?"

"You're going to Quince tomorrow." Moonstruck grunted and produced a paper weight out of a saddlebag.

He groaned.

"It'll only take a second anyway. Behold!" Moonstruck set the paper weight on a conveniently placed end table, cast her spell, then touched it with one hoof. It glowed a bright, yellow-white.

"Pony magic!"

She lifted her hoof off of it. Joseph then dramatically reached over and touched it with one finger. It glowed dark purple.

"Dragon magic! It already worked on dragon magic, I just had to tweak it a little to enhance and classify the response." Moonstruck beamed.

That was actually pretty impressive, he was about to say as much when a horrible blast of reality reared up and kicked him in the back of the head. He bolted upright, back in panic mode.

"Wait, wait! You can't be here, Mother has spells all over this room! She'll know- !"

"No she doesn't. I checked before we came in." Moonstruck shrugged.

He gaped at her. "What?"

"No snooping spells of any sort. No mechanical listening devices either."

His sleep-deprived brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around this revelation.

"What?"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "There were probably all kinds of spells flying around in here at one point, but they aren't working anymore. It's the same in my apartment."

He continued to stare at her.

"Do you want to poke the paperweight or what?"

He shifted is gaze down to the weight. It was just a little brass paperweight in the shape of a swan. He did. He did want to poke it. Then he wanted to go to sleep. He shakily pushed himself off the floor and hobbled over to the end table. Lifting a leg, he gently touched a hoof to the enchanted office supply. It glowed a good solid orange with a flickering magenta corona.

"Interesting!" Moonstruck leaned in close. "Must be hybrid magic doing that!"

"Huh." He lifted his hoof away, then poked it again. Same response.

"Alrighty, we'll get outta your mane. G'night." Moonstruck grunted, canceling the spell and collecting the paperweight. She spun and trotted towards one of the secret doors.

"Get some sleep, dear." Glenda nodded to him, then followed the princess out. Joseph just grunted and nodded before doing the same. He watched them pile in to the secret passageway, close the door behind them, then felt the faintest flicker of magic as they likely teleported back to their chambers.

He turned around to make sure Mother wasn't standing behind him, listened for any indication that she was going to barge in again, then rubbed his face with his hooves. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with all these ponies popping in on him unannounced. After waiting a few minutes to be absolutely sure he was alone for the rest of the evening, he finally went to bed.

* * *

Moonstruck was not surprised to be summoned up for tea with the queen the next day. What was surprising was that Lucena seemed to have taken the beach trip idea to heart.

"And then I realized I haven't been to the beach house in _ages_!" Lucena laughed. "Now, I can't go leaving things to Maximus because he'll just muck things up while I'm gone, so we're taking him with us, when he gets back. I miss out on so many mares weekends because of him, you know."

She sighed, took a sip of her tea-like-product then set the cup down roughly. "I wanted to go this weekend, but he had something to do over in Quince. I swear he keeps himself so busy just to avoid spending time with me."

Moonstruck made a good show of nodding sadly. Seeing the queen in this good of a mood was a little disconcerting. "Well, he is at that age. Past it, I'd assume. It becomes a bit tedious to spend all of ones time with ones mother, once one is a stallion."

"I suppose that's true." Lucena crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I suppose it works out. Have to send word ahead to have them prep the beach house anyway. It should be in working order already, but it's as I said, we haven't been in quite some time." She scowled off into space. "Before Maximus was born, now that I think about it."

While the queen stared off into space and likely into the past, Moonstruck very cautiously focused on the teacup. She'd modified her spell so that only she could see what color it glowed, and she'd scaled its energy requirement back quite a bit just in case Lucena was sensitive enough to pick up on it, although she severely doubted it. It would only flash for a moment - instead of maintaining the color for as long as Lucena was touching the cup - then it would cancel itself. She wouldn't have time to blink.

Sure that she had just enough time, she cast her spell on the cup but held off on activating it until Lucena picked it up again. As soon as the mares fingertips touched the porcelain, Moonstruck activated it.

For the briefest of moments, the cup glowed a dark red. Lucena didn't seem to notice a thing.

Moonstruck grinned from within the folds of the voluminous skirt she was hiding under. The puppet made no response, of course. As she'd suspected, Lucena was low on power. An alicorn of her age should be off the charts, or a bright blue-white on her fire-scale at the lowest measurable color. It was probably taking everything she had to maintain that stupid bipedal form, and it was likely what was draining off most of her power and aging her. She made a mental note to ask Max about the spell when she saw him again. Considering his power level, and general lack of training, she was a little surprised he could do it. She wasn't even sure if she could pull it off, and her power level was around where it should be, although to be honest she wasn't entirely sure what her level was under normal magical conditions.

Lucena brought herself back to the present with a little shake. "I should send for Eira. I'm sure she would love a few days at the shore."

"Who doesn't?" Moonstruck made the puppet beam. She liked going to the beach as much as anypony, but when you grow up on a small island, it wasn't the event it was for ponies living further inland.

"Hmm. Maximus will just have to go without bringing any attendants, since both you and Eira will have a few assistants, I'd assume." The queen mused, swirling her tea a little.

"Just the two, for me." Moonstruck said slowly. She had assumed Joseph and Glenda would be coming along, she was just a little surprised the queen had even remembered they existed.

"Oh, that's right. It shouldn't be a problem, then. I suspect your bodyguard doesn't even sleep on a bed, or require his own space, for the most part."

"Not really, no."

"Even better! You can have the smallest suite; Maximus and Eira can take the medium sized ones. I, of course, have the largest." Lucena grinned.

Moonstruck made the puppet smile back and sincerely hoped that Lucena didn't find some way to ruin beach trips the way she ruined parties. More importantly, she hoped the trip didn't take long. Now that she had a concrete reading on Lucenas remaining power, she needed to figure out if the queen was indeed connected to Magmanus somehow, and how strong the shield was. As it stood, she could easily take Lucena in a straight out fight, but it was all for naught if they couldn't prevent her from summoning the dragon. Or at least force her to summon him in such a way that it gave Moonstruck time to take him out before he could get to the city. If she could take him out at all, that is.

* * *

"As we suspected, Lucena's power is very low." Moonstruck said a few hours later, after they had teleported down to the warehouse to update the Historical Society.

"No way, you got it already?" Lindsey gaped at her.

"Yup!"

"Low for an alicorn, or...?" Wenchell asked, brows furrowed deeply.

"Low for a spell caster in general." Moonstruck nodded. She cast the spell on his mug of hot beverage, sans her stealth modifications. She had already explained her color coding to them.

"That's the spell there, give it a whirl."

Wenchell blinked a few times, then placed his hoof on the cup. It glowed a bright red.

"Heh, you're actually a little stronger than the queen. Hers was a deeper red."

"You're kidding!?" He yelped as he slid the mug over to Lindsey, whom gave it a poke as well. Not surprisingly, it didn't react to her at all.

"Wha - where _should_ it be?" Lindsey asked. "What's your reading?" She slid the mug across the small table. Moonstruck lifted a hoof to stop it, and watched as the mug flared yellow-white. "Brighter and hotter than that."

Wenchell whistled.

"Max is actually in pretty good shape, his power was at a good bright orange." Moonstruck canceled the spell, then slid the mug back to Wenchell.

Lindsey gave her a sly look as Wenchell stared down into his mug.

"You know, I think this means you're the most powerful pony in Roanamia right now." Wenchell grunted, looking up.

Moonstruck blinked a few times and shifted her weight. She hadn't really thought about it in those terms.

"When did you find the time to test Max?" Lindsey asked before Moonstruck could mull that over too much.

"Oh, we dropped in on him last night." Moonstruck grinned, as Glenda giggled. "Scared the snot out of 'em."

"In... his chambers?"

"Yeah. Joseph tracked 'em down."

The dragon nodded, then took a sip of whatever it was he was drinking over there. Moonstrucks herbal tea hadn't cooled down enough yet to drink.

"It's a good thing too, otherwise I wouldn't have had a chance to get his power reading before he gets back from Quince." Moonstruck sniffed her tea-like-product. It actually smelled really good; Fern had said it was a mint blend without the basil so many ponies liked to add to it.

"How long is he supposed to be gone?" Wenchell asked, furrowing his brow.

"Dunno. The queen seemed to think he'd be gone a couple days at least." Moonstruck scowled. "How far away is Quince? I'd assume the airships can get there decently fast."

"About six hours north by airship. They're pretty slow, and they use up a lot of fuel. A fast pegasus can probably fly it in half that." Wenchell grunted. "And they wouldn't need to spend half a day refueling."

"Wow. And here I thought those airships were one of the cool things around these parts." Moonstruck snorted a laugh. "Though I guess that explains why it took all night to get to Bridle-Dur from the mountains."

The others nodded as Evee wandered in and plopped on a stool at the table. "What's this about fast pegasus?"

"Just telling the princess about how slow the airships are."

"Oh, yeah, those big ones just sort of putter along. The smaller ones are much faster but they burn up a lot of fuel." Evee nodded. Fern wandered back in just then with a tray loaded with tea things.

She set a steaming cup in front of Evee, then one in front of an empty seat before sitting down herself.

"Refills are on the cart." She grunted.

There were varying degrees of acknowledgments and thanks from the gathered ponies.

"Who're we missing?" Lindsey asked, looking around. "Was Buster going to join us?"

"No, he's still trying to figure out that stinky stuff." Wenchell shook his head.

"Geode?"

"Her leg was bugging her, so she went home."

"Oh. I actually had a job for her. But it can wait." Lindsey shrugged.

"Actually, we can't stick around long. I need to work out a bunch of logistics for the beach trip." Moonstruck sighed. "So fewer ponies is probably better."

She took a sip of tea, then stared down in to her cup. It was mint tea. A lightly sweetened, warm, yet cool and refreshing cup of mint tea. Possibly some of the best mint tea she'd ever had.

"This is _fantastic!_ "

"Oh, ha ha! Thanks." Fern ducked her head and blushed.

"No really, this is amazing!" Moonstruck lifted her head to look the unicorn in the eye. "And I'm not just saying that because I haven't had a good cup of tea in ages. This is really, really, _really_ good!"

"Aw, heh heh. I do... I mean, it's kind of silly, but I do kind of want to be a tea master some day." Fern blushed even darker. "Like, after all of this is over and the shield comes down. I've been reading books about growing and brewing tea since I was a foal and... I dunno it just... just seems like... I don't know how to describe it, really."

Moonstruck grinned. "It's not silly. I have some connections, so I can probably get you at least a VIP tour of some plantations."

"What? You don't have to do that!"

"It's nothing! I can write up some letters of recommendation. Being a princess has its perks, you know." Moonstruck laughed. "I can get ya in to all kinds of stuff. And I'm sure Roanamia will need a good cup of tea after all is said and done."

The others chuckled.

"So, anyway. We've gathered up a half dozen crystals for you." Lindsey said, sifting through a small stack of papers. "The biggest we could find. I also went ahead and grabbed the list of magic users for Max, since I knew he'd probably be busy for a few days after the queen finished her project – that's usually what happens." She slid half the stack across the table.

"Oh, cool! How big are we talking?" Moonstruck asked as she flipped through the list of names. There were three hundred and sixty eight magic users potentially strong enough to hold their own against Lucenas magic corps; most of them probably on par with Wenchell. Not as many as she had hoped, but hopefully enough to make a difference.

"Um, the biggest is about two feet tall." Wenchell drawled. "The rest are between six inches and a foot."

"Nice!" Moonstruck nodded.

"So, we're assuming you're going to use the crystals as focusing points to read Roanamias ambient magical field." Fern said.

"Yeah, pretty much. Unless you guys know of a better way to do it."

"Max would usually just kinda lurk around the Rounds equipment to get us some rough numbers to work with." Lindsey wrinkled her nose.

"Seems risky." Glenda grunted.

"It is. The queen doesn't really like him to go poking around in there, and the priestesses don't trust him."

"Oh, since you already got the queens power level, and you said Eira was going to go, can you get hers too?" Evee blurted suddenly.

"Yeah, good idea. And Kyrenai, since the queen seems to like to drag her along to stuff." Moonstruck nodded.

"Too bad we can't get all of the barons." Fern frowned. "Though I doubt they're powerful enough to cause any problems."

"Not arcanely, no." Moonstruck agreed before taking another sip of tea.

"Not even in most practical sense. At least, not the ones in the city." Fern shook her head. "The barons you have to worry about are the ones who don't spend time in Bridle-Dur. They have their own private forces, though individually they don't have enough pony power to cause problems. If they decide to join forces, they can be a real menace. Easily as bad as the queen."

"Was afraid of that. How much of the military will fall in with some of the more popular barons?" Moonstruck grumbled.

Fern crossed her eyes slightly. "Probably about seventy percent. The other thirty will probably try to enact a police state of some sort in the name of the queen. I'd say easily half of that seventy percent will run to Eira. The other half will be split between four other barons. I can get you their files, if you like."

"Sure, that might be useful." Moonstruck shrugged. "Eira only really has to worry about the queen, huh?"

"Yes. She basically manages by herself up there. As long as Lucena is in power we don't have to worry about her pulling anything, but well, we all know she's not afraid of Max." Fern grimaced. "Lucena has offed entire branches of House Rosegard to eliminate any potential heirs from other parts of the family. Frostgard is one of the few lines still going, and they're pretty inbred. Really, from Eiras point of view, marrying Max is the best bet for both the survival of her line, and her only real shot at the crown."

"I kinda figured." Moonstruck scrunched up her nose. "How closely related are they, anyway?"

"That is difficult to answer." Lindsey grimaced as well. "Max showed me his family tree once. The Frostgards basically... well, breed themselves like purebred dogs, with very little out-crossing to other branches of the Rosegard family tree. They really really want to keep their ice powers and all that in the family."

"Yikes!"

"So even though Eira is many, many, generations removed from Lucena time-wise, she's still basically a close cousin."

"Eww." Joseph grunted.

"Yeah, they don't really talk about it much, but they have a lot of issues with infertility and deafness."

"Yeah, 'cause of the white coats – which I'm sure they're also breeding for." Moonstruck gagged a little. It was weird enough to do that with animals, but ponies?

"And _we're_ supposed to be the barbarians." Glenda muttered, eliciting a hearty laugh from the gathered ponies.

"Do they still do that out where you come from?" Evee asked.

"Good gravy, no! I mean, most alicorns are related to some extent, but we live for a really long time, so that just takes a while to work its way out of the gene pool." Moonstruck shook her head. Time to change the subject. "Anyway, I was thinking about how we're gonna deal with Magmanus earlier."

"Ugh, yeah. That's probably easier without Max around." Lindsey frowned as the others let out soft groans and slumped in their seats. "He, uh... well he doesn't think there's a way to stop him and he gets all gloom and doom and... er, we're pretty sick of hearing it."

"It shouldn't be too hard. Once we know what the ambient magic levels are, we'll know what he has to work with." Moonstruck shrugged.

The others gaped at her. Except for Joseph, whom seemed to be dozing (though he was likely listening), and Glenda whom was more curious than anything.

"What? Dragons are effected by low magic too. And if he's as big as you all say he is, he probably can't fly very well without it, much less project any sort of shield." Moonstruck furrowed her brow. "I'm not gonna go as far to say it'll be _easy_ to take him out, but it's likely do-able."

They exchanged glances, then went back to gaping at her.

Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "I'm a dragonslayer back home. I've done this before."

" _How?_ "Wenchell yelped.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Moonstruck chuckled. "Anyway, I think the main trick will be to take him out before we drop the shield. I have no idea how quickly the magic situation will normalize here, and I have no idea how quickly a dragon of his size, and age can recharge, so keeping him under the shield for as long as possible is key."

Jaws were on the floor. Moonstruck wasn't sure why this was all so shocking. "It also occurred to me that complete and utter chaos might work to our advantage, if we play our cards right. If Lucena is unable to summon Magmanus, most of her power is vaporized in an instant. Or if she summons him, and he can't even take off to unleash a thousand years of darkness or something, her power is instantly vaporized. Or she summons him, and I get to him first – you get the idea." She waved a hoof.

"You want to... use the shield against Lucena and Magmanus." Fern said very slowly. "You're going to weaponize the shield."

"Yeah, pretty much." Moonstruck shrugged.

"I like this." Glenda grunted, nodding.

"You also want to use the power vacuum that will result from the queens fall to our advantage." Lindsey said equally slowly.

"Yes. If everyone decides to rebel, the military will be stretched too thin to be very effective. And I'm sure the barons will be too busy fighting among themselves, or dealing with their own uprisings to cause much of a problem. At least for a little while." Moonstruck nodded. "Do you have forces in other cities?"

"I _really_ like this." Glenda continued nodding.

"Yes, not many. Mostly our spy network." Fern exchanged glances with Evee. "Do you think we could start riots or something?"

"Probably. We'd need to move some commando cells into the area to make some surgical strikes. If we can time this right, we can take the city relatively quickly because the whole country will be so unhinged no one will be able to raise a hoof against us." Evee gasped. "And the citizens might just do our job for us in other cities."

"If we drop the shield after Lucena and Magmanus are down, Princess Moonstruck can bring in outside forces..." Fern started.

"And we can secure the whole country." Lindsey finished.

"This is absolutely insane." Wenchell grunted. "But it's way better than anything we've been able to come up with before."

"I thought Max kept saying your plans are more or less in place?" Moonstruck scratched the back of her head.

Everyone groaned again.

"Our infrastructure is, yeah. And evacuation plans. But as far as actually taking the city, nowhere near." Lindsey sighed. "Mostly it's because Max isn't willing to accept any losses. We've got everyone just about ready to go at a moments notice, but if Max isn't completely certain that a plan will ensure the safety of almost everyone, he won't give the go-ahead."

"To be fair, we haven't actually been able to challenge the queen until now." Wenchell grimaced. "Or rather, we didn't know we could. But we still couldn't do anything about Magmanus."

"I know. But still." Lindsey shook her head.

Moonstruck frowned. "I was afraid of that."

"He's too sweet natured for his own good." Glenda sighed. "The poor colt's going to have to accept there are going to be losses."

"And the losses are worth it, in the long run." Moonstruck eyed Glenda out of the corner of her eye. The old mare was always full of surprises. Joseph had mentioned she had been the leader of her clan for a while. It certainly explained a good chunk of those surprises.

"No, not worth it. Just inevitable." Glenda shook her head. "He's got the smarts to be a good leader, but he doesn't want to accept the less savory parts of it."

The others nodded.

"You're going to have to teach him that." She nudged Moonstrucks flank.

"What? Why me!?" She sputtered, half turning to face the old pegasus. "I'm a horrible leader! Ask my sister – I never do any of my paperwork and spend most of my time playing cards in a saloon with my friends!"

"Because you're an alicorn princess from the outside world." Glenda said coolly, eyeing her so intensely Moonstruck cowered a little. "He's been trying his best to be a good prince and protect everyone with what limited knowledge he has of what it is to be a kind, benevolent leader. Like it or not, you're setting an example for him."

"And don't sell yourself short, you're a good leader." She finally turned away, closing her eyes as she sniffed her tea. "You're just not, well, a princess in the traditional sense, as I understand it. You're not someone I can see leading a country, but you're a competent and cunning commander if the situation calls for it."

Moonstruck was not quite sure how to respond to all of that.

"Ha ha! Busted!" Joseph chortled.

Moonstruck casually wacked him in the back of the head with one wing. Or tried to anyway. He ducked at the last moment.

"Okay, great and wise retired clan-leader, how am I supposed to do that?" She asked, resisting the urge to teleport to bed.

"No idea." Glenda shrugged. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Moonstrucks skull made a hollow thud as it hit the table. Joseph burst out laughing as the historical society ponies giggled.

"She _does_ have grandma powers!" Wenchell snorted.

"Grandma powers are the best powers!" Evee guffawed.

Moonstruck shifted so that she could see the others, only to lock gazes with Lindsey, whom wore a most disturbing grin. Deciding she didn't want to know what that was all about, Moonstruck sat up again.

"Okay, I think that's good for now. Should probably meet again after the beach trip."

The others agreed.

"Oh, and I'm gonna need a map I can scribble all over. But when we get back."

"What for?" Wenchell asked as ponies got up, scraping their stools across the floor and stretching tired limbs.

"I'm gonna make your lives a whole lot easier."

* * *

A/N: Sorry, been sick, so slight delay in posting.


	29. Chapter 28

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

After two days of preparation, they were _en route_ to Windmare Bay, a little town almost due east of Bridle-Dur, and a bit south of the Amin river delta. As Moonstruck understood it, the coast was perhaps only an hour or two away by air – Joseph had even wandered that far in search of prey. Because they were taking the queens personal cruiser, it would be three or four hours. Three or four hours of keeping the queen entertained. Oh _goodie_.

It felt strange to be sitting in the lounge with Lucena, Eira, Max and Kyrenai while their various attendants lurked in the back of the room. Joseph was probably bored to tears perched at attention on an ottoman, and poor Glenda was demurely standing with the other hoofmaids, draped in a plain gray cloak. At least Lucena considered most servants so far beneath her that she barely gave them any thought, much less looked closely enough at any of them to realize Glenda was a local pegasus.

This was probably one of the most tedious games of cards Moonstruck had ever played. Keeping up the duchess act wasn't difficult, it was that Eira and Lucena spent most of their time chatting, Kyrenai just glared off into space, and she couldn't exactly converse with Max. The game would sit there for long stretches, half forgotten, but she couldn't drift off to do something else, and she had to remember not to win whenever the queen remembered they were playing – which grew increasingly difficult as time wore on. She hoped the entire trip wouldn't be like this, though she suspected it very well may be.

She was ready for a good long run on the beach by the time they got to the beach house, which was actually a spacious villa. Thankfully Lucena left her to get her things in order in her small suite, which was more of a one bedroom apartment about the same size as Breezy's place back in Trot. The staff at the beach house apologized that they did not have a private room for Glenda, but provided a mat for her to sleep on the floor in the bedroom, if Moonstruck had need of her in the night.

"Do you have a cot?" She asked as one of the housekeepers showed her their rooms.

"A... er, yes? I don't know where we would put it..."

"Oh, we can figure that out. It'll be a proper sleep-over, eh?"

"I, uh, suppose it will be! I'll see what I can find. Does your... um..."

"Bodyguard. He's fine on the floor. Prefers it, actually." Moonstruck chirped.

"Of course, Your Grace." The housekeeper bowed and left.

They'd already moved her bags in to the bedroom. Glenda had one small pack, and Joseph didn't have any luggage at all. Moonstruck quickly cast her anti-snooping spell and found the room clean. She nodded to the others.

"This is cozy." Joseph commented as he poked at a seashell encrusted lamp. It was a little comforting to see Lucenas beach house was as gaudily decorated as most beach houses Moonsrtuck had ever been in. Everything had a pastel nautical theme, there were seashells decorating things that one would not typically glue seashells to, and what wasn't nautical was tropical, even though they were far north of warmer waters.

"Yeah, it has a pretty similar layout to Breezies apartment, only without a kitchen." Moonstruck wandered into the bedroom to check out the view. They lucked out and were on the east side of the house with a nice view of the courtyard below, a small stretch of hillside, then the beach and ocean beyond. The hillside might have been forest once, going by a few stumps sticking up out of the hardy grass, but it was green, at least.

"It's been ages since I've been to the ocean." Glenda said, coming up beside her. "Though I doubt I'll be able to spend any time down there."

"We might be able to sneak out late at night."

"I hope so."

Moonstruck slid the window open to let in the ocean air, then moved around to the sliding glass doors to do the same. Their deck was very small, too small for she or Jospeh to be comfortable on, but Glenda could enjoy it.

A knock at the door made her glad she didn't immediately ditch the puppet. Glenda scrambled out of the bedroom to open the door as Moonstruck straightened her dress before walking out herself. Glenda had just turned around to announce their guest, but hesitated.

"Oh, Eira! Are we getting started already?"

"Not quite. The staff ordered the wrong wine, and Lucy thought it would be fun for us to go in to town to pick out our own." Eira grinned.

Moonstruck groaned inwardly, but made the puppet grin. "That does sound fun!"

"Bring your bodyguard, Lucy wants to see him in action!"

"Of course. Swiftclaw." Moonstruck gestured to Joseph, who thankfully did not roll his eyes, nor make any other sarcastic gestures. It looked like Glenda would have the place to herself for a while.

"Oh, if they bring the cot up, just have them put it in that alcove over there. I don't think we'll really need that chair most of the time." Moonstruck called over her shoulder as they stepped out of the apartment.

"Yes, Your Grace." Glenda bowed.

"A cot? For your hoofmaid?" Eira asked as they made their way down the hall.

"Yes – her joints aren't what they used to be. Can't hardly sleep on the floor, anymore, the poor thing." Moonstruck nodded.

"How kind of you." Something about the way Eira said that implied that she thought it was also very stupid. "I do have to wonder about the age of your maid."

"Her family has served mine for many generations. It would be disrespectful to send her away when she is still willing and able to work." Moonstruck sniffed.

"I suppose." Eira conceded.

They reached the staircase and started down it. Lucena was waiting in the foyer with a cloaked and hooded Kyreani sulking off to the side, and a very bored looking Max holding an ornate shopping basket near the arched entrance to the living room.

"Alright, everyone's here. Lets go!" Lucena clapped her hands together, spun, and marched out the front door. A large, open air carriage was waiting for them with a team of red roan earth ponies hitched to it. Two, two-pony chariots were to accompany them, one in front, and one in rear.

"Angelina, I assume your bodyguard can keep up by air." Lucena called as she climbed into the drivers seat.

"Easily, You Majesty." Moonstruck smiled.

"Good."

Lucena got the earth ponies moving as soon as everyone was in the carriage, but not quite settled, causing Max to sway ponderously and flail with his free hand before falling into his seat, and for Eira and Kyrenai to stumble back into the rear bench. Being a veteran of public transit, Moonstruck simply planted her hooves and shifted her weight forward while they accelerated, then calmly sat next to Max once their speed evened out, though the carriage still bounced and rattled jarringly. The streetcars in Trot were a much smoother ride than this. It probably had something to do with the carriages shocks being worn out, and the cobblestone street being more pothole than road.

As she was riding backwards, she had a very nice view of Joseph jogging along the sidewalk for a few strides before he took off and circled up and around to soar about three hundred feet above and behind the carriage. It was a perfect position to watch for any sort of attack, or road block. He might insist he doesn't know the first thing about being a bodyguard, but he was a natural at it.

She shifted her gaze downwards to watch Eira and Kyrenai bounce on the opposite seat and had to stifle a laugh. Eira was gritting her teeth and trying to hang on, while Kyrenai's hood had fallen back, to reveal a deep scowl. She had her front hooves crossed over her chest, and she was glowering off into space as if denying the very existence of the bumpy ride, even as she bounced and shifted back and forth on the padded bench. Moonstruck wondered if the mare ever changed expressions, or if perhaps her face was stuck like that. She also wanted to make that comment to Max but didn't.

The ride in to town was thankfully brief, and they were soon piling out of the carriage to continue on hoof to a vintner Lucena apparently enjoyed. Moonstruck was more of a cider mare than a wine mare, so she wasn't really sure what, if anything to pick out. And she doubted anything made in these conditions was going to be any good anyhow. Joseph landed as they took to the sidewalks and fell into step behind and to the right of her.

She chatted as they stopped traffic and made ponies scatter for the relative safety of buildings, and pretended to be charmed by the seaside village when she was actually a bit dismayed by its poor condition. The neighborhood the queens villa occupied was pristine (aside from the roads) but the bulk of Windmare Bay was in rough shape. Heavy storms had weathered all of the buildings, and it was clear that whatever they had harvested off the coast hadn't been a source of income in some time. What she could see of the little harbor was very lacking in boats, and the dry docks seemed entirely too full. Too there were a number of boats abandoned on the beach, as near as she could tell. They must be relying almost entirely on tourist money.

"What do they harvest here?" She asked no one in particular as they turned down a much nicer block with newer, upscale shops.

"Kelp, and fish to supplement pegasus diets." Max rumbled, his voice in that low, gravely, official tone he liked to use when in character.

"Oh, what kind of kelp? We harvest a bit of it ourselves, back in Bananalund." Moonstruck chirped.

"Whatever they can find, anymore. Most of the kelp that grows in these waters are toxic. No one knows why." Max frowned. "In years past it was a green kelp used as fertilizer. Younger leaves were tender enough to eat after a bit of processing. It was considered a delicacy."

"Blegh! Never liked the stuff!" Lucena gagged. "Nadia used to scarf it down like candy, but I could barely stomach it."

"Have you tried the ice kelp from off the glaciers? It has a much fresher, and cleaner flavor." Eira chuckled. "It's quite good in mixed salads with capers."

"Ugh!" The queen shook herself. "Disgusting!"

They laughed a little nervously, then settled down as they reached the shop in question. Lucena strode through the door to the chiming of bells. The clerk at the counter looked up and did a double take before hastily bowing, knocking his horn hard against the counter.

"Your Majesty! I am deeply honored!" He ground out, even though it was clear he was in quite a bit of pain.

"The staff at the villa ordered the wrong wine. What do you have in reds, today?" Lucena asked, apparently uninterested in the unicorns head injury.

He rose shakily, grimacing from what was likely still a throbbing forehead. "Oh, uh, we just got a shipment of _merlot_ in from Maneas Tirith, and Norcap has been producing some lovely _pinot noir_ the past few years."

"Ooo! Try the _pinot_!" Eira gushed. "I usually keep a few casks around the castle! Is it from Nordwallk?"

"Yes, I believe it is, Your Grace!"

Moonstruck looked around the little shop as the others discussed their wine choices. Although the shelves were full, she got the impression that this was probably the bulk of what they had. Water was too scarce south of the glaciers to use it to make wine, much less water the vinyards. Even little coastal towns like this seemed too dry, even for late summer.

"What about you, Angelina? What will you have?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. What do you recommend?" Moonstruck turned around to see the queen and Eira sipping wine.

"Try this, it's lovely." Eira beamed, floating a glass over to her.

Moonstruck made a face under the skirt as she swapped out the glass for an illusion. She swirled the wine in the little goblet, then tentatively took a sip as the puppet mimed the gesture with the illusion up above. It took all of her willpower not to gag. Eiras taste was about as bad as the queens – this was probably some of the worst wine she'd ever tasted; highly astringent while somehow being sickeningly sweet, and the aftertaste was akin to spoiled cough syrup.

"Hmmm... this is interesting." She managed, swapping the glass out again. "I don't think I'm in the mood for a red this dark though. Do you have a _rosé_? Or perhaps a _riesling_?"

"Hmph, white wine." The queen sorted. "Barely counts as wine."

"I am a bit of a lightweight." Moonstruck chuckled nervously.

"We have a few _rosé_ though I'm afraid we've been plumb out of _reisling_ on account of the drought." The clerk said.

The store went silent. Max and Eira whipped around to stare wide eyed at Lucena. Kyrenai sighed heavily.

"You have a drought here?" Lucena asked slowly, spinning around to give the clerk her full attention.

He froze, a sheen of sweat appearing on his brow as his grin took on a decidedly strained note. "N-not here so much, Your Majesty, but up in Neighpa Valley, where many of the _reisling_ grapes are grown. They have trouble on and off with, um... unreliable weather. And, well it's an off year, as it were. Ha ha ha..."

"Oh, that's Vertrams area." Lucena rolled her eyes. "Incompetent fool always runs out of water."

Everyone relaxed. The clerk produced a few bottles of _rosé_ , one of which he opened for sampling. It tasted more or less like a flat soda with a hint of something vaguely berry-like, but it was considerably more tolerable than the red wine Moonstruck had tried before.

Their selections made, they placed fresh bottles in the basket Max had brought, then wandered back out in to the street without paying. Moonstruck wasn't sure if she should point that out or not, but when she looked back, she noted that Max had disappeared. He reappeared as they reached the carriage, looking about as annoyed as he usually did when forced to spend time with his mother.

He nodded slightly to her, apparently on the same page she was. He'd gone back to pay for the wine. She glanced past his shoulder to spot Joseph perched on top of the nearest building. He fluttered down to the street as they piled back into the carriage.

Then they were off again, barreling back the way they'd come; over broken cobbles, and around deep potholes, and past the run down shops, and sinking homes, and tired, gaunt ponies, who hid as they passed but peeked out once they had clattered and rattled up the street to bolster their bravery enough to satisfy their curiosity.

Moonstruck sighed quietly to herself. Seeing Bridle-Dur in such a state was one thing, but she'd spent most of her life in a seaside town, and a number of summers up the coast at her fathers family beach house at Seastar Cape, which was not dissimilar to this little town in its heydey.

She turned her head to look up at the rich neighborhood they were rapidly returning to. The beach house in Seastar Cape was nothing like this. It was a little two bedroom cabin with bunkbeds upstairs, and a couple of pull-out couches in the living room. The back yard was big enough to camp in, and while it had a nifty little kitchen, most of the cooking was inevitably done on the charcoal barbecue on the back porch. It was warm, and homey, and had a certain sense of history to it, since the Oak family had used it for many generations, each branch of the family taking turns caring for it for ten year stretches. Anyone in the family could use it, they just had to reserve it ahead of time to avoid scheduling conflicts. Her mothers family had a beach house, of course. And they did use it to entertain some guests, but most of the family beach vacations were at the Oak house.

They arrived back at the villa, then dispersed to finish getting their quarters in order. They'd be dining on the main terrace, then spending much of the evening doing whatever it was Lucena felt was appropriate for the first night on the coast, which Moonstruck suspected would involve cards, drinking wine, and ignoring Kyrenai.

She was not wrong. The queen finally called it quits half past two. Moonstruck was in bed by two forty five, but was roused at six for breakfast. Then it was down to the beach. Generally Moonstruck would be more enthusiastic about spending the day at the beach, but after a long night with the queen, she would much rather sleep. It didn't help that she'd be spending the day with the queen as well, and it would be an especially long day at that.

Once they were actually down at the beach, after a long, awkward hike down the well traveled trail with the puppet on her back, it became clear that Lucenas idea of the day at the beach did not match up with Moonstrucks. A pavilion had been set up well away from the water, complete with ornate rugs and a chaise lounge. Unicorn attendants served drinks and snacks, while a pair of earth ponies stood at the ready with feather-fans. Lucena stretched herself out on the chaise lounge, while Eira sat on a plush cushion the ground near by and picked at the plate of grapes being offered to her. They quickly settled in to their usual banter as Kyrenai sat sullenly with her back to the ocean. Max had come prepared with a book.

Moonstruck felt very out of place. She was hoping for a day of beach combing, swimming, or soccer with a few naps in the sun here and there. Not... whatever it was this was. At least she could disappear off with Joseph and Glenda for a little while, since they were both "attending" to her.

"Come along Swiftclaw. Perhaps the sun will be good on your joints, Glenda." Moonstruck said, lifting a frilly parasol she'd been supplied and stepping out of the pavilion.

"Oh, you're leaving?" Lucena asked, tilting her sunglasses down to eye her over the top of the frames

"I-is that alright? I so enjoy a good walk on the beach." Moonstruck said as innocently as she could manage.

"Not at all. Take Maximus with you, he needs the exercise. And it's not proper for a mare of your station to wander about unescorted."

Moonstruck could just see Joseph scowl out of the corner of her eye. "Of course, your highness." She curtsied.

Max made a very good show of dramatically shutting his book, and hauling himself reluctantly to his hooves before dragging himself out of the tent with his ears pulled back.

Eira watched him go, biting her lip. She seemed like she was about to volunteer to come as well, but Lucena resumed their conversation precisely where she had left off, effectively squashing her chance at an exit.

Moonstruck made the puppet grin at the others once they were to the packed sand, and well out of earshot.

"That was risky." Max commented as they approached the water. Moonstruck wanted to get in, since it was already toasty in the sun, but didn't dare ditch the puppet in broad daylight so close to the queen.

"I figured the worst she could say was no." Moonstruck shrugged the puppets shoulders.

Joseph trotted ahead to inspect the water. He sniffed it and pulled his head back. "Ugh, algae bloom."

"Aww, really?" Moonstruck lifted the front of the dress to squint at the surf with her own eyes and take a sniff. She couldn't smell anything.

"Yeah, it's in its early stages, I think. Gonna reek here in a few days." Jospeh sighed.

"A shame." Glenda sighed as well. "The ocean is almost warm this time of year too."

"Uh... wh-what are you doing?" Max asked.

Moonstruck looked up at him, then remembered that she was using the puppet at the moment, so he couldn't see her poke her head out from under the skirt. It probably looked like she was flashing the ocean. He was blushing darkly, and looking out to sea. She burst out laughing.

"Oh, Lindsey didn't tell you about all this, did she?"

"Er about what?"

"I'll show you when we get a little further away." Moonstruck chuckled as Joseph and Glenda caught on, and burst out laughing. They could see the illusion (Glenda got used to it after a while), but could also see her, on account of their nodestones.

She ducked back under the skirt, then turned south to walk along just out of reach of the water. The surf here was much lower than back in Trot, which had some pretty epic waves on the open ocean sides of the islands. It was generally too cold to _actually_ surf, though many ponies donned thick wetsuits to do it anyway.

"So, Glenda, when did you find time to come down to the beach?" She asked after they'd gone a short ways.

"Oh, we'd venture down near the distortion back when I was old enough to make the trip." Glenda said. "It's very rugged that far south. Very few beaches, and most of them inaccessible to land-bound ponies. The clan used to fish, and hunt seals in the spring and fall. Winter it was usually too stormy to find much, and summer was when patrols would dare to search the south coast for us."

"Sounds nice." Joseph nodded.

"It was. I always wished we could stay on the coast all the time, but..." Glenda sighed.

They swapped beach stories as they walked. Glenda told them about weeks spent living in caves high up on the cliffs above the ocean, and foraging in little coves untouched by most ponies. Joseph told tales of teasing sea lions, and digging up clams for a stew his father often made (one of the few food items dragons cooked was stew, apparently). Moonstruck told them about the house at Seastar Cape, and holidays spent playing soccer on the beach with her siblings and the local foals. Max didn't tell stories, but he'd ask questions from time to time.

 _Nostalgia_ _Hour: Beach Edition_ came to a close as they found some interesting rock formations to explore, and the heat really started to ramp up. They wandered into the rocks, Moonstruck estimated that they were over a mile from the queens pavilion.

"You think we're clear?" She asked.

"Probably." Joseph grunted. He skittered up one of the rocks – a tall sandstone pillar - and perched at the top, he stared off into the distance, back the way they'd come, then slowly and carefully inspected the land and airspace around them. After a good five minutes, he fluttered down.

"If they're watching us, they're too far away to see details."

"Oh good." Moosntruck shuffled into the shade of the pillar and promptly canceled her spells before pulling the puppet off her back and resting it on the ground in the shade.

"I was dying in there!"

"It's a puppet!?" Max yelped, then ducked his head and looked around. They were close enough to the surf that it was doubtful anyone could hear them, if anyone had been around.

"Yup! I have never seen a transformation spell like that in my life." She shook her head and sat down on the cool, damp sand.

"So wait, when you first arrived – how?"

"That was just an illusion I did on the fly. The puppet came later."

The prince stared at her for a few long moments. "You've just been improvising this whole time, haven't you?"

"Yeah, the original mission was just to poke around out in the mountains a bit to try to see what Lucenas been up to, but things got derailed a little." Moonstruck shrugged.

"A little!" Glenda chortled.

"Hey, we're still alive and not in a dungeon or something!" Moonstruck sniffed.

Glenda inclined her head towards her, conceding the point.

"How does that transformation spell work? All I know about spells like that is that they're very high level, and must take an inordinate amount of power which... well to be honest you don't have. I'm assuming your mom does it out of sheer stubbornness." Moonstruck gestured to Max, whom had remained in his bipedal form for their stroll.

He grimaced. "It's difficult to explain. It's not very complex but it does require a lot of willpower. I mostly only learned it out of desperation."

Moonstruck grimaced as well; she had no difficulty imagining why he might be desperate to preform such a difficult, power draining spell.

"I suppose it's not terribly different from a solid illusion spell, but instead of creating matter, you're altering yourself." He seemed to realize he didn't have to be up on two legs and sank down to all fours, his forelimbs shifting proportions, and hands stretching, and fingers merging into cloven hooves as he did. It was a little nauseating to watch.

"Once you understand how, _holding_ the form is the real trick. Your body will want to revert back to its natural state." He rolled his shoulders and lifted one hoof, shook it out, then did the same with the other.

"I'm guessing it's uncomfortable."

"Very. The longer you hold it, the worse it gets."

"I think I'll just stick with the puppet." Moonstruck made a face.

"I don't blame you."

They lingered in the sandstone formations for a little while, enjoying the light breeze off the water, and exploring some of the more interesting little caves and tide pools. There wasn't much life on the exposed rocks. Few anemones or starfish, almost no mussels to speak of. Being in a quasi-enclosed space allowed Moonstruck to detect the beginnings of the algae bloom Joseph had noted earlier, and although no one mentioned it, there was an underlying hint of decay. The ocean here was suffering just as the land was.

Far too soon they decided to head back. They could only be gone so long without raising suspicion, and they were hungry and thirsty from their walk. Although it seemed to take a while to reach the rocks, it took very little time to get back within view of the pavilion. Moonstruck fixed the puppets face with a bubbly smile, while Max sank into a bored slump.

Lucena and Eira were still chatting when they wandered back into the shade. Kyrenai had laid down in the back of the pavilion.

"Ah, good timing, lunch is on its way down." Lucena said as Max walked past her, plopped down where he'd been before, and picked up his book.

"It's such a lovely coast here. We don't have hills like this in Bananalund until a good ways inland."

"Mmm, the south coast is more dramatic. Everything evens out as you move north." Lucena nodded. "I've always preferred it, though Ice Harbor is lovely in the summer."

"It's my favorite place to go." Eira piped. "The village there is oh so quaint, and whales come quite close to shore."

"Oh!" Moonstruck sat as best she could on the ground.

"We should go sometime. Before winter sets in, or perhaps in the spring." Eira smiled at her.

"Sounds lovely!" Moonstruck chirped.

Lunch arrived; a half dozen unicorns marched into the pavilion levitating several large covered trays between them. Earth ponies brought a low table over to start setting up the spread. It was an uninspired array of goodies; oatcakes, steamed carrots, braids of tough hay - all of it fairly insipid, and the wine didn't really help. After they, ate the heat really started to ramp up, and the humidity so close to the water was stifling, so they retreated back to the villa for the bulk of the afternoon, which allowed Moonstruck to catch a few more hours of sleep. She had assumed they would venture back down for a bonfire on the beach, but they instead ate dinner on the terrace, and played cards until just after midnight, when Lucena had finished off the last bottle of wine, and staggered off to bed.

Moonstruck was very happy to finally ditch the puppet for the day, though she was oddly disinclined to sleep.

"Well, I happen to know there's a nice little cove about a half hours flight down the coast." Joseph suggested as she tucked the puppet away in the back of her closet.

She'd already set up a motion sensor and nodestone, in case anyone went into the room while they were out when they weren't supposed to be. They could probably duck out for a few hours.

"Oh, was that the one you were telling me about, with the tall cliffs, and the creek bed that feeds into the bay?" Glenda asked.

"Yup. Snagged an injured seal there once."

Moonstruck wriggled out of the closet, and slid the door shut. "Sounds good to me. Maybe the algae won't be a problem further south."

Joseph shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."

They set off after doing a quick test run of the motion detector. Moonstruck heaved a sigh once they were aloft in stealth mode, relishing the cool night air. It got hot here during the day, but it cooled off dramatically at night – something Bridle-Dur couldn't seem to manage. They did a quick circuit around the villa to see what sort of nighttime patrols there were before angling south to follow the hills. Joseph was in the lead, and he spotted motion down below first, as they were crossing over the south side of the villa.

Max had just taken off and was flying away as fast as his wings could carry him. Eira stood on a balcony, her white coat shining brightly in the light of the half moon. She stared after him for a few moments, then turned around and went back inside. Judging by his trajectory, he'd probably taken off from that same balcony.

Exchanging glances with one another, they adjusted course to follow the prince. He flew back to the sandstone arches and pillars they were exploring earlier, alighting on one of the larger ones that was now out in the surf since the tide was in.

He sat down and stared out at the rising moon.

Moonstruck canceled her stealth spells as she alighted on the rock behind him, Joseph and Glenda following suit.

"'Sup!"

He started then turned around. "Goodness, you're too good at that!"

"Yeah, I know." Moonstruck sighed. "Everything okay?"

"Ah, now it is. Eira er... was... a bit jealous of earlier, apparently. And, er... thought she'd try to uh..." He ducked his head, grimaced and blushed so vividly it was visible in moonlight.

"Ew." Moonstruck, Joseph and Glenda said in unison.

"You have no idea." Max shuddered.

"We're gonna check out this cove Joseph found a while back, wanna come with?" Moonstruck jerked her head towards the south.

"O-oh, really?" He perked up a little. "Wait, how did Joseph find a cove?"

"Sometimes I fly all the way to the coast when I hunt." He shrugged.

"That sounds... that does sound fun, but I probably shouldn't be gone long. And I can't go invisible the way you can." He frowned and settled himself more firmly on the rock.

"Come along, dear." Glenda motioned for him to follow as she spread her wings. "Times a wastnin'"

"But I -"

"Gotta do what grandma says." Moonstruck grunted also opening her wings.

He seemed like he was about to argue further, then chuckled softly before hauling himself to his hooves. "I suppose I can't argue with grandmother. Mother always sleeps very soundly after she's had a lot of wine, anyway."

"That's the spirit!" Joseph chortled, then sprang into the air.

They formed up behind him in a loose V formation and quickly gained altitude and speed, though they topped out at about three hundred feet. As promised, they came upon the cove about a half an hour later. It was very small, perhaps only a mile or two from end to end, and the sandstone cliffs jutted out into the ocean about a half mile each. There were a few trees growing towards the back of the cove, and the creek bed wound its way through them before flattening out onto the sand. It was probably a great spot when the creek was running. Moonstruck suspected it even cascaded down a few waterfalls on its way to the sea.

They landed midway up the beach to take a look around.

"This is great!" Moonstruck nodded. "It's a lot like the beaches back home. Trot's coastlines are super rugged. There'd be more trees though. And moss – a ton of moss. And banana slugs big enough to carry off watermelons. Also it'd probably be drizzling right now."

"Sounds like the way it used to be here." Max noted.

"The pictures in the books I found at the library were so beautiful." Glenda sighed. "I've never seen it that green."

"And you've seen it greener than I have." Max sighed as well.

"Alright, lets beach it up. Joseph; algae status." Moonstruck ruffled her wings and started towards the surf.

"On it." Joseph grunted. He trotted ahead of her, sniffing along the sand as he did so. When he reached the water, he paused to sniff the air above it before stepping in and sniffing closer to the waters surface.

"I think we're in the clear. Deeper water closer to shore here, so it stays cooler." He lifted his head and grinned.

"YES." Moonstruck barreled past him and splashed out into the surf. It was warmer than she expected, but still cold. And it felt good – oh did it feel good! She'd never spent so much time away from the ocean before, and she was surprised by how much she missed it. She splashed out about belly deep, waited for a wave to pass, then ducked under water for a moment. She popped up with a little yelp, then waded out further, giggling madly.

Joseph seemed content to wade, and catch things in the shallows, while Glenda went for a short swim before joining him. It took Moonstruck a few minutes to realize Max was still standing awkwardly on shore.

"C'mon, the water's great!" Moonstruck called. "You can swim, right?"

"Yes, just never in the ocean." He grimaced, ducked his head and pulled his ears back.

"It's okay, the surf isn't anywhere near dangerous."

"Are you sure?"

"Totally. You should see the waves in Trot. Six foot surf is the norm. Ten on a good day!"

He looked a bit taken aback, then he cautiously moved closer to the water. He got about knee deep.

"I think this is good enough!"

"Dude, it's fine! C'mon!"

"It is quite nice. Though my joints can't take it for very long, I'm afraid." Glenda said as she passed him.

He seemed to decide that if an old pegasus could do it, so could he. Max put his head down and trotted directly into the surf, plowing through the water until he was belly deep, then awkwardly swimming and walking out the rest of the way, to where Moonstruck floated like a bizarre duck.

"Okay, this is alright. I can do this." Max nodded.

Moonstruck grinned at him, then opened her wings in such a way that caused a most spectacular splash.

He sputtered and shook out his mane as Moonstruck cackled and swam away.

"Hey! That's why you wanted me to come out here, isn't it!?"

"Yep! Joseph and Glenda know better!" She crowed.

Max paddled into pursuit, but he didn't know how to do the epic wing splash, so Moonstruck paused the game to show him. Once he had it down, she promptly pulled a big globule of water out of the ocean with magic and dumped it on him before diving into deeper water. After a while it got too cold to stay in the water, so they moved back on shore, and roped Joseph and Glenda into a game of tag to warm up.

The moon was high in the sky by the time they had sufficiently worn themselves out. If this were anywhere but here they'd start a bonfire, and tell scary stories before turning in for the night but alas, a light out here would draw a lot of unwanted attention. So they reluctantly took wing.

It was an absolutely beautiful night, Moonstruck hated to be cooped up indoors on nights like this, but she needed at least a few hours of sleep before whatever it was Lucena had planned tomorrow. She hoped it was a lazy sort of day where everyone just did their own thing, but she doubted it.

Moonstruck yawned as they came within a few miles of the villa. Although she wanted to linger outside for a while, she _was_ looking forward to a quick, hot shower. If the creek had been running she would have rinsed off in the fresh water before flying back.

"Wellp, guess we should pop into stealth mode." Moonstruck drawled.

"Yes, that would probably be wise." Max agreed, frowning.

They said their goodbyes, then Joseph and Glenda activated their nodestones, while Moonstruck simply went invisible. A few minutes later they were cautiously piling into their room through the sliding door.

* * *

Thankfully they were not roused at six am the next day. Nor at seven. Nor eight. Moonstruck woke up on her own a little after nine to find the apartment quiet. Joseph was still sprawled on the floor half under a blanket with his head on a throw pillow, and Glenda was curled up snug as a bug on her cot.

She quietly opened the sliding door to step out onto the balcony. It was overcast, and a bit of fog had rolled in, though it didn't reach the villa. It lurked around near the base of the house and the top of the hill they were on, upping the humidity, but giving her a spectacular view of a sea of soft cloud rolling off to the far horizon. It was not cold, but it wasn't particularly warm either, which was a nice change of pace. She shrugged, stepped back into the apartment, closed the door and went back to bed. Just as she was drifting back to sleep there was a firm knock at the door.

 _Of course_ , she thought sourly to herself, pulling her ears back. She rolled over and scooted towards the edge of the bed, hearing Joseph grumble something from the other room.

The front door opened. There was short, quiet conversation, then it closed again.

Moonstruck shuffled into the living room as Joseph carefully turned around. "Breakfast is in fifteen minutes."

She was the one doing the grumbling this time as she turned around and headed towards the closet. Swapping the dress on the puppet to something she hadn't worn yet, she strapped it to her back, and headed out. The villa staff was just wheeling a cart with two breakfast plates off the small elevator at the very end of the hall as she started down the stairs. That would more than likely be Joseph and Glendas breakfasts.

Surprisingly, breakfast was being served in the dining room, and only a groggy looking Eira, and Kyrenai were at the table. Both were in bath robes.

"Oh, no need for a fancy dress this morning." Eira yawned. "Lucy is, ah, not feeling well after drinking so much wine last night, so it'll be just us, and Maximus today."

"Oh, well, I suppose I can go put my jammies back on..." Moonstruck scratched the back of her head.

"Well, I suppose you're already dressed, it'd be silly to go back." Eira smiled faintly.

Max staggered in, already transformed, he had his eyes closed and was rubbing one of them with the back of his hand. When he opened them, he looked around in some confusion until Eira explained the situation without looking at him.

"Ugh, we're going to have hell to pay later." He groaned, relaxing down to his natural state, then sitting at the long table.

"Of course. Nothing is ever _her_ fault." Kyrenai grumbled darkly. Her bath robe had a hood on it for some reason, and she was currently hiding in it. Moonstruck kinda wanted a bath robe with a hood, now that she knew they existed. But not a black one. A purple one maybe. With sparkles. Or an obnoxious clashy one that she could use to passively annoy her sister.

"Drank too much wine last night? Our fault for not stopping her – not that _that's_ possible. Stayed up all night and is tired and groggy the next day? Our fault for keeping her awake."

They chuckled nervously.

Thankfully breakfast was brought in, which occupied them for a little while. Moonstruck wasn't sure what "just us" meant at the moment. Were they going to laze around the villa today, since Lucena didn't seem to like anyone to go anywhere or do anything without her? Or were they honestly going to venture out without the queen?

"So, what are we doing today, then?" Max asked towards the end of the meal, helpfully clearing that up for her without realizing it.

"Well, Lucy had originally planned to spend the day on the beach again, but I'd rather go shopping." Eira nudged her empty bowl of porridge, again making it a point to not look at him. Moonstruck was a little surprised to be fed porridge, but it was probably better than anything else they'd eaten here thus far.

"I'm never entirely sure if she means it when she says to go on with out her." She scowled.

"Not usually." Max sighed.

"But she was also pretty hungover." Eira wrinkled her nose. "And she can meet us in town if she likes, or send for us if she's feeling better later."

Moonstruck was fairly certain the queen didn't think about things in those terms. If she wasn't feeling well, you stuck around until she was. Even if she insists you to go without her.

"Mother doesn't see things that way." Max rolled his eyes, voicing Moonstrucks unspoken thought.

"Ugh, just go. She won't get mad at _you_. We all know who takes the brunt of it." Kyrenai spat, standing up and stomping out of the room.

Eira grimaced and pulled her ears back.

Max chose that moment to excuse himself, leaving in the opposite direction.

"Well, guess it's just you and me then!" Eira chirped, mushing her grimace into a pained grin.

Moonstruck wouldn't mind storming out as well, but she didn't really have a reason to.

"Are you sure it'll be alright?"

"It should be fine, as long as we bring her something." Eira waved dismissively. "We can probably be down to town and back before Lucy wakes up, anyway. And Maximus and Kyrenai are here if she needs anything the staff can't provide."

"I suppose." Moonstruck said hesitantly.

"We can take your Swiftclaw as an escort, and my Danon to carry our things. He's very strong. That way your old maid can... have a day to herself. Or something." She said the bit about Glenda as if the words tasted strange to her.

"She would like that, I'm sure." Moonstruck nodded the puppets head slowly. She was not looking forward to a shopping trip with Eira, but it didn't look like she had a choice in the matter.

"Splendid! Meet you in the foyer in twenty minutes!" Eira beamed.

"Hmm, perhaps I'll take a little break from this bipedal form today, if you don't mind." Moonstruck mused aloud as she stood up. "It gets very tiring to maintain all the time."

"Oh, by all means! I can't do it myself. I'm only a unicorn, after all." Eira ducked her head.

"We all have our limits." Moonstruck made the puppet smile sweetly, and shrug. At least she didn't have to spend the day with the puppet again.

Back to her rooms she went, wishing she could go back to sleep instead. Or fly back to Bridle-Dur to get back to planning things, and get a jump on enchanting a lot of things. They could probably be back well before Lucenas airship ever inched over the hills.

Once back in their chambers, she explained the situation as she extracted herself from the puppet, and ran a brush through her mane (which was much easier to do now that it was so long, and weighing itself down), then she and Joseph made the short trek downstairs to meet with Eira. She wasn't worried about Glenda, she had the look of a pony whom was going to go back to bed once she was finished eating. They had their nodestones anyway, so she could call for back-up if she needed it.

Eira entered the foyer a minute or so after they did, a buckskin earth pony colt whom Moonstruck suspected was not much older than Acorn trailing behind her with snowflake and white rose emblazoned saddlebags at his flanks.

Eira started just as she crossed the threshold into the foyer. "Oh! I uh, hadn't realized alicorns could have the draft body type."

"Yes, my family comes from agricultural lines, with a close affinity to earth ponies." Moonstruck supplied, scraping the back of her brain for an interesting theory she recalled reading about a while back.

"I hadn't realized alicorns could have an affinity for a particular tribe of pony... much less _earth_ ponies..."

"We _are_ all three." Moonstruck nodded. "Most ponies don't realize that."

"Fascinating!" Eira cleared her throat then gestured to her assistant. She stepped to the door. "The carriage will meet us out front."

Moonstruck was a little surprised to see that she was about the same height as Eira. She could have sworn Eira was taller than her by quite a bit. Though she had never spent any time with the mare without the puppet, perhaps seeing her through the scrying spell distorted her senses. She would assume that Eira would seem _shorter,_ from such a lofty vantage point, however.

The carriage pulled up as they reached the end of the driveway, this time with a bored looking villa staffer at the reigns. They climbed aboard and took their seats. The colt remained at attention behind the carriage. The driver set them off at a much more sedate pace than yesterday, and was careful to avoid the worst of the potholes, which resulted in a much more pleasant ride. The colt, Danon, kept up easily, and Joseph glided lazily overhead, disappearing at times into the thick fog.

They parked the carriage near where they had stopped yesterday and set off on hoof to hit the various shops in the upscale part of town. Moonstruck couldn't help but notice that the place was all but deserted again, even though the queen wasn't with them. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't noticed much activity in the other houses up on the hill. Did everypony clear out when the queen came for a visit, or did those houses sit empty much of the time? It was late summer, so it was hard to believe there were few – if any - vacationing ponies here.

Eira prattled on about all sorts of things that Moonstruck was uninterested in as they shopped. She didn't buy much (and she did actually pay for things, thankfully), but what she did get was amazingly expensive. Moonstruck couldn't wrap her brain around paying _that_ much for a hoof dyed silk scarf, or abalone pendant or, well any of it. The lack of other tourists, and the astronomical prices in the upscale shops made her wonder how any of these places even stayed open.

"So, what did you and Max discuss yesterday?" Eira asked as they made their way down to a cafe for drinks.

Moonstruck almost had a panic attack, then remembered that he'd gone with them to walk on the beach, which Eira did indeed know about.

"Nothing, really. He never says much."

"Ah, yes, he can be rather aloof at times. Does Lucy do that often? Send him off with you?"

"On occasion. Mostly when she doesn't want to go herself, but feels some need to send the both of us." Moonstruck laughed lightly, then wrinkled her nose. "It usually ends up very boring and tedious, since I end up doing most of the talking. I don't know what's going on half the time!"

Eira giggled and relaxed a bit. They reached the cafe and ordered smoothies, then sat at one of the tables, under a broad umbrella. The temperature had risen sharply after the fog burned off, and it was already uncomfortable.

"Lets see, where should we go next?" Eira mused aloud, looking around at the shops surrounding them. "Was there anything you wanted to look at?"

"Not really." Moonstruck shrugged.

"Perhaps we'll have better judgment once we get our drinks."

A few minutes later a waiter brought them their smoothies, and they spent a little while quietly sipping them. It wasn't the worst smoothie Moonstruck had ever had, but it was far from the best. She felt a little bad about not getting one for Joseph (or Danon, for that matter), but her hooves were tied at the moment.

"Augh! I just don't know what to do with that stallion!" Eira huffed to end their comfortable silence. "I've tried everything! Even throwing myself at him doesn't work!"

Moonstruck momentarily wished she'd brought the puppet after all, because she sorely wanted to grimace. She maintained her calm facade, and tried to think of something to say that wasn't _maybe he isn't into incest_.

"Maybe he isn't into mares." Eira sighed, frowning deeply.

 _Oh, that works._ "Maybe not."

"I mean..." She worked her jaw around a little and tapped a hoof on the table. "If he doesn't want _me_ , who else could he possibly be interested in?"

Oh how Moonstruck wanted to roll her eyes!

"No really! I'm considered one of the most beautiful and desirable mares in all of Roanamia! I'm the second most powerful mare in the country, and the most powerful baron. A day doesn't go by that I don't receive a letter asking for permission to court me from some noblepony or their son. Most ponies even assume that I will be picked as the queen consort after Lucy retires. The only plausible reason Maximus keeps rejecting me is that he's simply uninterested in mares!" She banged the hoof she'd been tapping roughly on the table.

 _Sweet Celestia on a pogo stick!_ Moonstruck didn't even know where to start! Somehow Eira was worse than Windwake, and _nopony_ was worse than Windwake! Except maybe Breezy at times, though Breezy took things in an entirely different direction. Then again, Patch was her own brand of weird that was kind of creepy. Especially since she'd had a crush on Acorn for entirely too long (though she would never act on it). The more she thought about her friends' weird and occasionally disturbing dating habits, the more she realized she needed better friends. It also made her immensely glad that alicorns matured a little more slowly than other ponies, and she had not yet hit that desperate stage. If she ever did. When you have a thousand plus year life span ahead of you, a lot of the urgency of finding a special somepony flies out the window – especially when you consider - _oh there we go..._

"Well, I don't know what to tell you there." Moonstruck said slowly. "But I can say that he is more or less an alicorn, and we do differ from other ponies in more subtle ways. We tend to mature more slowly, and since we live so long, our need to find mates is somewhat tempered. Especially since we will outlive most potential mates."

Eira blinked her large, blue eyes a few times then sat up a little straighter. "I hadn't thought of that!"

Moonstruck nodded sagely.

"In fact, before Maximus was born, there was talk of me being chosen as the queens successor, since she hadn't produced an heir, and I was the closest living relative and had already shown great magical potential. They tried to put me into a position where she might decide to adopt me into the Rosegard line and raise me as her own." Eira swirled the remains of her smoothie in its cup.

"I was very small at the time, but I remember Mother getting into an argument with Lady Wilamina about whether or not the queen would choose a unicorn as a successor, since she'd likely outlive me. But then Max was born a year or so later, and my family switched tactics."

"Queen-Consort." Moonstruck supplied.

"Yes. They made sure Max and I spent a lot of time together growing up. Or at least as much as they could manage. I went to school in Bridle-Dur, and he'd spend summers in Icereach once he was old enough."

Moonstruck almost felt bad for Eira. She hadn't realized she was being groomed from foalhood for this.

"Do you love him?" She asked.

Eira burst out laughing. "Of course not! It's all political! He's a total bore!"

The little tiny shred of sympathy dissipated with a soft _poof._

"Ah."

"But, he's powerful, and Lucena will eventually have to pass him the crown. Even alicorns can't stay in power forever. Even if I die before that happens, I fully intend to leave behind a bloodline that can maintain the throne indefinitely. The sooner I can get started, the better." Eira scowled. "And he _must_ know I'm the best political choice. No other barons can get within spitting distance of me, and if Lucena steps down in my lifetime, the country can be easily split in two. One half loyal to the crown, and the other loyal to _me_."

The Historical Society was right, Eira was indeed the most dangerous of all the barons. But she was making a very big miscalculation, and it had nothing to do with the rebellion just around the corner. As long as she lived, Lucena would never truly give up the throne. Eira was being led on in the worst way, thinking she was in good enough with the queen to be first in line to marry her son.

Moonstruck shrugged to hide a small start as she suddenly remembered she was supposed to check Eiras power levels. Since she was conveniently fiddling with her smoothie cup, Moonstruck fired up her magic-masking spells, then cautiously enchanted the cup. It glowed briefly a bright orange, perhaps only slightly cooler than Max's reading. She shut it all down a moment later, though Eira didn't seem to notice.

"Well, if Maximus does prefer stallions, perhaps I should just present the whole arrangement as a business proposal – which is what it would be anyway." Eira scowled off into the distance. "No romantic pretenses whatsoever. We can keep whatever other lovers we want once we produce a few heirs."

"Good luck!" Moonstruck squeaked, not really sure what else to say.

Eira beamed at her, then sat up a little straighter. "Oh dear! What did you want to do today? I'm afraid I've spent most of our time shopping for myself!"

"Oh, it's alright. I don't have any money, anyway. It's just nice to be out and about."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's perfectly fine." Moonstruck managed a laugh. She was pretty sure Eira wasn't up for poking around out in the poorer areas where the locals actually lived and worked. She was also fairly certain she knew what she'd see anyway.

"Well, alright then. I suppose we should be getting back anyway." Eira shook her head then stood up, leaving her cup on the table. Moonstruck didn't see a trash can nearby, so she did the same.

The trip back up to the villa was as uneventful as the trip into town, and the house was still quiet when they wandered back inside. Eira immediately went up to check on the queen, while Moonstruck and Joseph retreated to their rooms. They found Glenda lounging on the deck with a magazine, lazily sipping what appeared to be lemonade.

"Having a good day, are we?" Moonstruck asked as she poked her head outside.

"Mmm. This lemon drink is quite good." Glenda didn't look up, just lazily turned a page. "This is a strange book though."

Moonstruck tilted her head to see what she was reading. Looked like a fashion magazine from thirty years ago. "Yeah, fashion magazines are always kinda out there. Especially the old ones."

"Did you have fun in town?"

"Nope. Though I did get Eiras power level. She's about on par with Max."

Glenda frowned. "I was afraid she might be more of a challenger than the queen."

"Yeah, I dunno what we're gonna do about her." Moonstruck leaned against the door frame as Joseph ambled up with a bowl of water. He couldn't drink from a glass without a straw, on account of his snout being the wrong proportions, but bowls worked alright.

"Her family planning was scary." He grunted.

"Do I want to know?" Glenda looked up and grimaced.

"Not really."

It was quiet around the villa for the next couple of hours. Moonstruck got a chance to make a few minor adjustments to the puppet, and clean out the sand that had found its way into various joints. Glenda continued lounging, and Joseph snoozed in the middle of the living room. It was so peaceful Moonstruck even forgot about lunch for a while, but as noon came and went, and her stomach began to rumble, and no one had knocked on the door with food, nor to fetch her for lunch, she began to worry.

She was just debating venturing out to see what was up, when there was a soft knock on the door. Joseph stirred, and climbed groggily to his feet. Moonstruck closed the magazine she'd been flipping through and straightened up a little as she flicked an ear to the side to hear what was being said.

It was a staffer on the other side of the door, and she spoke so low that even Moonstruck could only make out a few words here and there. It mattered little, she was scurrying away again after a few moments. Joseph closed the door and turned around, frowning deeply.

"Apparently we're leaving in thirty minutes."

"Back to the beach?" Moonstruck asked, sensing this was not the case, but uneasy about saying it out loud.

"No, back to Bridle-Dur. She was pretty freaked out."

Moonstruck mirrored his frown and slid off the sofa. Although she had several bags, she hadn't unpacked more than she knew she'd need, so getting her things in order took all of five minutes. Glenda had even less with her and hadn't really bothered with most of it. Once she was packed, Moonstruck strapped the puppet to her back, gathered up the nodestones she'd brought, and canceled all enchantments she had on the room itself. After one final sweep to make sure they had everything, they piled out into the narrow hallway, then headed downstairs to where the others were likely gathering in the foyer.

There was a large pile of luggage down there, but no ponies, aside from a couple of staffers whom were getting ready to cart said luggage outside. Moonstruck poked her head into the living room to see if anyone was in there just in time to see Kyrenai storm across the room. She moved aside to let the mare pass, barely catching a few grumbles as she did so.

Something about "this always happens," and "should have known better."

Max appeared a few moments later at the other side of the foyer. Moonstruck dared to make eye contact. He sighed heavily and gave a slight shrug.

"It's a lovely scarf, Eira, thank you for thinking of me! You're always so sweet!" Lucenas voice echoed down the stairwell.

"I saw it and it just screamed Lucy!" Eira chirped. "It's too bad we can't stay longer, I'm sure you'd have so much fun in town!"

"Well, I do have business to attend to, and I can't be languishing here with a disagreeable stomach, now can I?" Lucena said. When they came into view, it was clear that the queen was in rough shape. She was pale, her eyes were bloodshot, her mane was pulled into a disheveled ponytail, and she swayed ponderously every other step despite her firm grip on the railing.

When she reached the foyer, she pulled a pair of sunglasses out of a small bag and slid them on. "Right. Home it is. I've had quite enough of this sea air for another few decades, I think."

"Awww, are you sure?" Eira sighed wistfully.

"Quite. Come along, you lot. Temperance, pick up the pace. I want to be home before nightfall." She snapped.

Temperance – whom was the housekeeper, apparently, sharply urged her staff to hurry as the royal party made their way outside, up to the roof, and the landing platform where the queens cruiser was waiting. The engines were already warming up, and the ships captain was waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp. He bowed as they passed, then followed them on board.

"Your luggage will be up in a few minutes, your highness."

"Good. I'm so sick of this town. I always forget how dreary it is. And that wine? Ugh!" Lucena spat.

Moonstruck rolled her eyes, glad, for once, that she had the puppet to hide under. The airship lifted away from the villa as they got themselves situated in the lounge. Moonstruck was mulling over what card games to suggest, when she realized the ship was only rising straight up, not turning to head back to the city.

"Mother, what are you doing?" Max asked, genuine concern seeping into his carefully cultivated monotone.

Moonstruck looked up, took in the view of the little village, and the ocean beyond, then lifted her gaze higher. There were airships moving in from every direction.

"Ugh, I'm putting this place out of its misery." Lucena groaned. "Every time I come here they get the wine order wrong, and even after I fix it it still turns sour, and it always makes me sick! I think they're trying to poison me – but I'm made of tougher stuff!" She beat herself on the chest with a fist.

"Mother don't - "

"Don't take that tone with me!" Lucena snapped, whirling on her son, stepping up to get in his face (which was a bit of a trick considering their height difference). "Even you said this village isn't useful anymore, it doesn't need to exist!"

 _This is not happening._ Moonstruck thought, glancing back and forth between the incoming warships, and the queen. _She is not doing this._

"I never said it wasn't useful, I only said it wasn't producing as much as it used to!" Max snapped, even as he began to cower. It must have been taking him everything to keep from collapsing completely. "There's no need to raze the village!"

"I don't _need_ to raze it, I _want_ to. And I don't need your permission to do so." Lucena shoved him roughly aside both with her hand, and a small blast of concussive magic to add extra oomph to the push. She stepped over to a console embedded in the far wall as Max shook violently and fell back into one of the chairs.

There were a number of spells developed by dark wizards that were strictly forbidden to all ponies. Most ponies – even high level spellcasters – didn't even know they existed. But as a princess, Moonstruck had not only been informed of their existence, but had been taught them so that she could recognize and counteract them if need be. The spell Lucena had just cast had not been a concussive blast, but a forbidden spell; a pain spell. It did what it said one tin: caused pain. Immense amounts of pain that rendered the target immobile for at least five minutes.

Moonstrucks mind was reeling. She looked back and forth between Max, whom was grimacing and clutching his chest, while trying to drag himself out of the chair (the spell must not have been full powered), to the windows and the rapidly approaching airships, and Lucena.

"Commander, fire at will." Lucena said cooly into a microphone embedded in the console.

"Belay that order!" Max roared, pushing his way back to the console, still clutching his chest. "Commander this is Prince Maxi-"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Came a crisp, albeit staticy voice over the speaker. "Firing now."

Lucena grinned smugly at Max as he sagged against the console. She sneered off into an empty corner, then returned to her seat, lounging languidly as a nervous attendant brought her a bowl of fruit.

Moonstruck took a step forward, raising one of the puppets hands, not sure what spell she was going to cast or who or what she would direct it at, but it was too late, the airships were already firing. It happened so quickly, yet time seemed to slow. They were close enough to see each canon blast tear through the little village from every direction, to watch ponies dart out into the streets in a panic, only to fall victim to cannonballs, and splinters of wood, or collapsing buildings, or plumes of fire, or scalding hot water as boilers exploded under the onslaught. Smaller, faster ships swooped in and rained fire over the dry roofs, quickly setting entire neighborhoods ablaze, and sending ponies scrambling from what scant shelter their homes had afforded them.

It seemed to take mere moments to be over. Most of the village was in ruins, half of it was ablaze. Even the upscale neighborhood on the hill had been leveled. Soon the air outside the ship was filled with smoke so thick she soon couldn't see what was left of the village anymore.

"There, much better isn't it? I certainly feel better." The queen chirped. She clapped her hands together as the airship began to turn.

"Angelina, what game shall we play? I was thinking about rummy earlier."

"Whatever you wish." Moonstruck said, surprised she sounded so calm. She wasn't really sure how she felt at the moment, everything had gone quiet in her head.

She sat slowly on one of the chairs as the queen pulled a low table over, and Eira bounced over to her seat. Max didn't join them. He slumped against the wall and held hands that were partway to becoming hooves over his face. She could just see Kyrenai out of the corner of her scrying spell. She sat near the window, face hidden deep within her hood.

The hours drifted by in a dreamy haze that she would not be able to recall clearly later. Cards were played; tasteless fruit was munched upon; Lucena and Eira chatted merrily about how they were going to play certain barons against each other, or how best to exploit the vast homeless population of Bridle-Dur. They reached the tower near sunset, and everyone went their separate ways.

The fog Moonstruck was walking around in clung stubbornly to her until they reached their rooms. She was dimly aware of Joseph and Glenda watching her as she checked for listening devices (there were none), and reactivated the various spells she kept running in the apartment. She then calmly gave them the all clear before she removed the puppet and stowed it very carefully in the wardrobe. As soon as the door to the wardrobe shut, the fog turned to steam and sizzled away. She teleported to just outside the maintenance door in the storm drains.

Then she ran. She ran harder than she had ever run before, gasping in great gulps of air, the thunder of her hooves echoing forlornly down the empty pony-made cavern. Hot tears stung her eyes, streamed down her face and, unbeknownst to her, steamed against the cool stone behind her as she galloped headlong into the dark.

She wasn't entirely sure how she made it to the right tunnel to access the underground city from the tower, since she had only gotten there from the Historical Societies base thus far, but she found herself racing down it, a small, barely contained blast of magic poised and ready for the door at the end of the hall. She did not blast it open, but unlocked it with a wordless, instinctual spell that nevertheless left a few scorch marks on the door and stones nearest the lock.

Although her sense of time was a bit skewed, she was almost certain it took less time to get down to the city than previous trips; only three go-arounds down the halls and stairwells brought her to the freight elevator, and she didn't bother to open one door, close it, then open the other, she simply flung open one, then the other as soon as she could see it, not breaking stride until she was out on the metal stairs.

She slid to a stop on the landing, turned her gaze to the neighborhoods on the opposite end of the cavern to the university, and let out a scream as everything she'd felt, everything she'd wanted desperately to do when Lucena had destroyed the village came pouring out as a concentrated blast of furious magic.

The stairwell shook ominously as the magical blast crushed the far end of the underground city, kicking up a cloud of flickering dust and sparks. Moonstrucks scream ended in a choked off sob and she waited for the pain to kick in from such a powerful spell, but the rage boiling through her veins held it at a dull ache that was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Sobbing again, she collapsed down onto her belly, shaking too hard to remain standing any longer.

After a while, she became dimly aware of hoofsteps behind her, then a warm wing was draped over her back.

"I should have done something!" Moonstruck managed, her voice rough from screaming and crying. "She was _right there_! I could have – I could have - !"

"Thrown the country into chaos that no one's prepared to deal with." Glenda said softly. "It wouldn't have been better."

"But at least it would have been _something_!"

"I know." Glenda sighed, leaning against her. "I know."

Moonstruck let her head hang off the top step of the stairwell and shook, fighting back another violent sob to no avail.

" _Petals and thorns_..." That would be Lindsey. "Did you do that?"

She was probably referring to the underground city. Moonstruck couldn't really generate a response yet.

"Yeah, probably." Joseph answered for her. The railing just above Moonstruck creaked, which likely meant he was perched up there.

"They told us what happened." Lindsey sighed. "I hate to say it, but you get used to it after a while."

A muscle around Moonstrucks left eye twitched and she flicked her ears up from where they had been practically glued to her skull. Get used to it... _get used to it?_ She opened her eyes and stared off into the gloom, the last of her tears finally drying as her sorrow was quickly being overrun by anger.

" _Get used to it_?" She echoed aloud.

"Well... er... not that that's ideal. I mean, it _is_ why we're rebelling but... well up until now we..." Lindsey chuckled nervously, the landing creaking slightly as she took a small step back.

Moonstruck got her hooves under her and stood shakily, her legs and belly tender from lying on the rough steel grate of the stairwell. Glenda moved out of the way as Moonstruck turned around to look at Lindsey. She wasn't alone, Buster and a few others were with her. They were watching her with no small amount of trepidation.

"No more getting used to it. _Lucena is going down_." Moonstruck growled. She sniffled, wiped a bit of snot off her nose with her knee, and marched towards them, then past them, through the elevator, and back up the hallway.

"Come on!" Moonstruck barked from halfway up the hall. "I'm gonna need all of your crystals, and that map!"

The Historical Society ponies exchanged glances then scrambled out of the underground city after her.

* * *

For a while, the underground city remained quiet, the only movement that of the slight breeze that blew through the cavern. Eventually the dust settled, and the wild, raw magic of Moonstrucks attack fizzled out, arcing one final time over the wrack and ruin before flickering and dying. It was only then that the creatures dared emerge. They were insubstantial and cared not for the buildings she had leveled, but the sheer amount of power was enough to jeopardize their tenuous existence; something they instinctively sought to preserve even if it was torturous to do so.

Slowly and carefully they moved towards the stairwell, but not to climb it. They never climbed it. For them it didn't exist. No, they wanted to be under it. Under the first landing at the top, where an anguished alicorn had cried her eyes out.

They gathered around a seemingly arbitrary spot below that lofty landing, maintaining a perfect circle around a small patch of dirt. What tears had made it this far down had long since evaporated, but they were not without impact. A small plant was growing in that sacred circle. Not glowing moss, or noxious algae. Nothing as spectacular as a rose with a single blossom; nor a small sapling. It was a little weed. A tough little weed like a dandelion, a thistle, or milkweed - possibly a sunflower. Something that can thrive in seemingly impossible spaces.

Like this one.

The creatures settled in to wait.

* * *

The shrine keeper at the statue of Rosalina bolted upright in her lean-to, startled out of a deep sleep by a burst of magic so powerful she could feel it ripple through the very fabric of the city. The old mare had been blind for many years, but she stared off to the north as her senses continued to tingle, and something in the air seemed to change ever so slightly.

Or perhaps it already had, and she had only just now noticed. She turned her head to stare off to the south, realizing there was a faint pull of magic, almost as if something was echoing back and forth between that powerful burst, and something out in the mountains. It was a fleeting sensation, only there for a few seconds before it faded away into the quiet night.

It wasn't until the crickets started chirping did she realize that the tangled grove of half-wild roses had gone completely silent. And as other night noises resumed further away, she knew it wasn't just the crickets, but possibly every creature in the city that had been hushed by the burst of power. She turned her head back to the north, then shifted her gaze upwards, to where she knew the tower was.

Something was coming.


	30. Chapter 29

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

It took Max a couple of hours to break away. Mother was still ill, so she left him to get them settled again, and attend to Eira which ultimately led to a very _fascinating_ business proposal that he was still wrapping his brain around. Luckily she was leaving in the morning, and Mother should be alright by then so he wouldn't really have to discuss the matter further in the immediate future at least – thank goodness! The pain spell had worn off hours ago, leaving him tired and stiff, but otherwise whole, and in need of a long walk.

Before he would have had to come up with some excuse to head over to the shrine to brief the Historical Society on what had happened at Windmare Bay, but with the tower magically unprotected, he simply wandered down the service stairs to the storm drains. It was a long walk to the base, but he didn't mind. He needed time to himself.

He hated to admit it, but as badly as he wanted Mother not to raze the village, he was glad Moonstruck didn't drop character to stop her. It... it would have been so incredibly bad if she had. He didn't doubt that she could defeat Mother, Eira and Kyrenai (possibly all at the same time), and he would have helped if it came to that, but – stars they weren't ready! He didn't have enough political clout to hold everything together, and he certainly didn't want to use Moonstruck as some sort of enforcer to maintain some semblance of control. And they still needed to figure out a way to bring the shield down and augh! He hated that this was the best option! At least six hundred souls had been sacrificed today just to maintain cover. His stomach churned at the very thought of it. This was not how he wanted this _coup d'etat_ to go!

By the time he reached the Historical Societies main base he'd run things around his head so many times he was half tempted to turn around and go home. They'd probably already heard the news by now, and were also probably not expecting him tonight, but he dejectedly shuffled down the tunnel anyway. He nodded briefly to the guards as they opened the door for him, then scrunched up as best he could to squeeze through the pony-sized door. He'd expected everything to be quiet in the warehouse, but he found himself in a mad flurry of activity.

Lifting his head, he looked around at the bustling ponies, fear twisting through his guts.

"What's going on?" He asked no one in particular.

"The princess is gonna shove the queen in a lava pit!" One mare who's name he could not recall at the moment paused to say. "Lindsey told her to get in line! Ha ha!"

Max squinted at the loading docks. He wasn't entirely surprised Moonstruck was here, but the mare had not answered his question.

"Er, but what's all this?"

"Oh! She's got some way to let us teleport around the city, and she thinks she can set up some more powerful weapons and stuff for us. We're all trying to gather up the stuff she needs. Anyway, I gotta run – she's up with the command team. Bye!"

 _What?_ Max immediately started weaving his way through the crowd at a trot. As he grew closer, he was able to spot Moonstruck at the big table. Joseph was obvious as his silhouette was most definitely not a pony, and he assumed Glenda was there somewhere as well.

"Right, I mostly want to use nodestones for society movements since they're hard to find, the pads will be more for evacuation only. You said Dirtton was a mess to get out of?" Moonstruck was saying as he came within earshot.

"Yeah, I think I know of a few good places we could put them." Fern nodded, scowling down at the big map of the city.

Max fluttered onto the loading docks to see that they'd set up the map, but had added an interesting array of pebbles to the little figures they'd made.

"Hey." Moonstruck grunted, not looking up as she was watching Fern move a few coasters into Dirtton.

"Hi." Max looked around at the gathered ponies.

"If we can do the same for all of the slums, it could save a lot of lives."

Moonstruck grimaced. "I'm not certain of how many I can set up, to be honest. I know I can do one or two, but beyond that? Usually it takes a whole team just to do one. They depend on power crystals and ambient magic for the most part."

"Was afraid of that." Wenchell frowned.

"How are you doing, dear?" Glenda asked. She was seated at the table with a cup of steaming tea between her front hooves.

"About as good as I ever am." Max sighed. "Uh, someone told me you were going to shove my mother into a lava pit?"

"Yeah. Hope you don't mind." Moonstruck grinned tightly. "I can probably make a couple of mobile pads, so teams can move them around to get to the ponies who can't get out. The very old, the very young, the sick, the disabled."

"Oh! That would be good!" Fern nodded. "I'm sure just being able to teleport at all will make a huge difference."

"I told her to get in line." Lindsey chuckled.

"I heard that too." He wasn't sure how he felt about all of this yet. "So, um... what's going on?"

"I'm not watching that happen again." Moonstruck said firmly, finally turning to look at him. The fur on her cheeks was dark, and her eyes were a little red, likely from crying. Her gaze was so intense it sent a chill down his spine.

"Never. I'm putting an end to it."

"How?"

"You know about Lindseys enchanted earring, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And you know Joseph and Glenda can teleport on their own right?"

"Ye-what?" Max straightened up out of the slump he'd unconsciously slid in to. "I thought you were teleporting them with you."

"Sometimes. They have nodestones that let them do it on their own." She inclined her head towards Joseph, who said something rather odd, then disappeared. He fluttered into sight after a few moments, flying in from the far side of the room.

"I can make voice activated teleportation nodestones and link them up in a big network. This is it." She gestured to the pebbles scattered around the map.

He blinked a few times and focused on the pebbles. There were dozens of them placed around the south side of the city, and a few to the north. There were even a couple _here._

"Usually you need line of sight to teleport, but with a nodestone you can just jump between pre-programmed locations. I put a few in here so we can come and go instantly, if we feel like it. You all are going to help me put more out there so we can cover the whole city."

"It's brilliant!" Wenchell nodded. "I knew about nodestones, but I never knew you can use them like this!"

"And they're all like my earring – they're voice activated so _anypony_ can use them!" Lindsey beamed.

"That would be a very big help!" Max agreed. "Why were you putting them around the south side of the city?"

"Escape routes." Glenda grunted. "We didn't know how well we'd be able to move around the city at first, so we scouted around and placed nodestones so we could jump around to confuse any pursuers."

"Turns out it's actually pretty easy to escape if you can fly, and you're invisible." Joseph added. He'd landed a moment ago and was back at his spot at the table.

"I can also add communication, invisibility and silencing spells to the stones." Moonstruck nodded. "The communication spell is a top level encrypted spell, so no one will be able to listen in – though I think you mostly use radio signals here so it's probably overkill."

"Wow." Max sat down and absently picked his jaw off the floor.

"The trick is going to be getting guerrilla cells in other cities." Moonstruck scowled down at the map. "If we can create as much unrest as possible across the entire country, it'll make taking the city much easier. The military will be stretched too thin to deal with us, and by the time they realize what's going on, we'll have taken over."

"Er... what?" He did not like the sound of that one.

Moonstruck sighed. "Look, I know you want to minimize casualties, but at the rate this is going, Lucena is going to off more ponies for farts and giggles before we ever make a move. If we unleash some organized chaos – with safety measures firmly in place – we can probably keep the mess at a manageable level."

She stared hard at him again. "But there's _going_ to be a mess. There's no way around it. And the longer you wait, the worse it's going to be."

He scowled, and swallowed hard. "And Magmanus?"

She turned away. "I'm going to take him out before he reaches Bridle-Dur."

"You should see what she did to the underground city." Lindsey said casually before he could say anything.

"Yeah, I was a little skeptical when she said she could probably take out Magmanus, but then..." Wenchell nodded, a slightly haunted expression on his face. "Also, going by the state the underground city was in, I still say you're probably a heck-of-a lot stronger than a powerful unicorn."

Moonstruck shrugged.

Max opened and closed his mouth a few times, not entirely sure what to tackle first.

"She aimed away from the university." Glenda added. "So the books are all fine."

"We're gonna need to head back down there. I'm gonna need some more powerful magical detection spells, and a long distance magic tracer. I wanna see if I can read Magmanus's power levels too." Moonstruck grunted. "That'll clear up a lot of unknowns. He's probably about out of power too, if Lucena is any indication.

And the word of the night was: "What?"

She blinked a few times and half turned to look at him. "Oh! I forgot to tell you – I snagged her power level already. She's running low. Eira's probably on par with you though. Didn't get a chance to check Kyrenai, but I'm beginning to think she's dead inside."

Wenchell and Lindsey had chosen that moment to take a sip of their drinks and were currently choking on them in the midst of trying not to laugh.

"Does that make a difference?" Glenda asked.

"Kinda. It's hard to cast any spells when you've effectively checked out like that. So even if she has power left, she might have too many emotional blocks to use it." Moonstruck shrugged.

Max found himself being shoved aside as a very pushy Geode plopped an ancient dusty tome on the table next to him.

"This is the only known detailed account of Magmanus." She declared, placing her good front hoof on the book. "It managed to survive Lucenas various library raids over the years by being used as a door prop in the archives of the botanical section of the Bridle-Dur Central Library basement. At least until one fateful day when I got turned around in the basement, tripped over it in the abysmal lighting, and realized what a treasure I had literally stumbled across."

She patted the book. "Made off with it that instant. A brick makes a much better doorstop, don't you think?" She giggled.

Max felt himself slipping away as Geode began rattling off the dragons stats circa thirteen hundred years ago, and they began estimating how much he could have grown since he'd gone into hibernation in the mountain. The conversation shifted to troop placements as Geode had to pause to muddle through some translations. Then they got into where best to place nodestones and teleportation pads, and the basic theory behind magical cannons, and the feasibility of something called _slow accumulation power crystals –_ and it was all too much.

It wasn't that he felt he'd been replaced, or left out (they were really only modifying his evacuation plans for teleportation capabilities when it came to damage control) and it wasn't that any of the ideas were bad per-se, it was just that they were all horribly, impossibly risky. They all relied on the assumption that Moonstruck could take down Magmanus before he could reach the city, and that his demise would throw the entire country in to a carefully controlled chaos, which would enable them to subdue and dethrone Mother with relative ease. She was extremely vulnerable without the threat of Magmanus, they figured. They wanted to be in place to make the first move, before any barons might try anything. And with spies and allied factionsin other cities ready to spark unrest, and small scale rebellions, the barons would be too busy dealing with their own crisis to focus on Bridle-Dur.

Ponies were going to die. Many ponies. Most of them probably needlessly. He couldn't deal with this right now. Max got up and turned around, started towards the edge of the platform.

"Max, you alright?" Lindsey called after him.

"I just need some sleep." He snapped.

* * *

Moonstruck sensed Glendas gaze on her as Max walked away. She'd have to talk to him later about all of this. Hopefully he didn't think she was usurping his position, she just... couldn't stand to make small moves anymore. If this was going to work, they needed to act quickly, and the sooner she started getting a proper teleportation network together, the better. She grimaced as she realized she'd forgotten to ask if the pain spell had worn off alright – presumably it had. With Lucenas power being so low it was possible she couldn't cast it properly anymore and it had more of a numbing effect than anything. Still, she wasn't being a particularly good friend by ignoring it, not to mention completely freezing up when she knew a counterspell to stop it in its tracks.

"I'll talk to him in the morning." Moonstruck sighed as she realized Glenda wasn't going to stop drilling holes through her skull with her eyes. "He probably does need the sleep anyway."

"We all do." Glenda nodded once, finally looking away. "We should call it a night soon."

Moonstruck rubbed the side over her head and scowled down at the map. It _was_ late. "Yeah, we probably aren't gonna get any further on this tonight."

"This is a great start." Wenchell agreed. "Way more than Max ever does."

"Max is just trying to minimize damage, and lives lost." Lindsey nudged him. "You know that."

"I know. Still, way more."

She sighed heavily. "We'll have all the crystals moved up by tomorrow"

* * *

The next day Moonstruck was roused early for breakfast with the queen, Eira and Max, which thankfully didn't go on too long, as Eira needed to get back up to Maredor, and the queen apparently had some sort of project she wanted to get rolling, though she never said what it was. Max seemed to find this concerning, though he didn't say anything on the subject. It didn't look like he'd slept much. Moonstruck had certainly slept far less than she'd wanted, and had had some particularly unsettling nightmares.

Once Eira had properly been seen off, Lucena instructed Max to escort her back to her rooms, as she often did, then retreated to her chambers near the top of the tower.

Moonstruck very much wanted to apologize, and explain herself, but she didn't dare break character while they were out and about in the tower, so instead she prattled on about nothing in particular.

"Oh! There's something wrong with one of the hinges on the french doors," Moonstruck chirped once they were back at her door. "I keep forgetting to have maintenance come up and look at it."

"I... can inspect it, if you wish?" Max said hesitantly, giving her a quizzical look.

"Oh, really? How sweet of you!" Moonstruck made the puppet beam at him, then opened her door. She shuffled around to let him in then shut it softly.

"Er, was that code or is the door actually broken?"

"Code." Moonstruck sighed, shrugging out from under the puppet.

"Oh, good morning, dear." Glenda stifled a yawn. "Did you eat enough? We still have a few... scones? These are scones, right?"

"Yep." Joseph nodded, munching on the pastry in question. "Mornin'."

"Good morning. And I'm fine, thank you."

"Anyway, I wanted to apologize if I came off like... well I was usurping your position." Moonstruck grimaced. "I really don't like being in charge or anything, it's just you've got a window of opportunity here, and I don't want to waste it."

"N-no apology necessary!" Max said, taken aback. "I... well, to be honest it didn't bother me that you were down scheming already, I'm just... I'm not very comfortable with a lot of the, er strategies you were proposing."

"Yeah, I kinda figured." Moonstruck frowned, not entirely sure what to say, so she decided to change the subject. "Did the pain spell wear off okay?"

He started a little. "You know what that is?"

"I had to learn it, so that I can counter it." She ducked her head and pulled her ears back a little. "I'm sorry I froze up yesterday."

"It's alright. Mother can't cast them like she used to. It's more of a stun blast, now." Max shrugged a little awkwardly and absently rubbed his chest. "I'm pretty used to it, anyway. Had no idea there was a counter, though."

"It's not difficult to learn, but it does involve having someone cast it on you so that you understand how badly it hurts, and can counter it instantly. Then they move on to countering it for somepony else."

"Ah, that makes sense." Max nodded. "You'll have to show me at some point."

Moonstruck nodded. "Hopefully you'll never need it."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause, wherein Max shuffled a little, and Moonstruck tried to remember if there was anything else she needed to apologize for. She couldn't think of anything, but that didn't mean much.

"So, was there actually a problem with the door, or?"

"Oh! No, it's fine."

"O-okay, I should probably..." he pointed at the front door.

"Yeah, gotta keep up appearances and all that."

"Bye, dear!" Glenda called as he reached the door.

"Goodbye, Glenda." Max chuckled.

Moonstruck threw up a basic illusion and opened the door for him. "Thanks again! I had no idea you could just push the pin back down in the hinge like that! You're so helpful!"

"Wha? Oh. OH! Yes, ahem. They do work themselves out sometimes." Max nodded as he stepped out into the hall. It was empty in the immediate area, so they were in the clear. He seemed to remember he didn't need to be bipedal and sank down to all fours before trotting away.

Moonstruck shut the door and canceled the illusion. She heaved a sigh then turned around to see what scones were left.

"You sure like collecting grandkids." She quipped as she plopped on the couch.

Glenda shrugged. "I only have the one left and she's not here, so I have to make do somehow."

Moonstruck and Joseph giggled.

Thankfully the queen did not call upon her for the rest of the day. While Moonstruck was itching to go down and get started on setting up the expanded nodestone network, she was a little wary of wandering off again so soon, and she did have a few things she could do around the apartment in preparation for later; primarily making a copy of the current network to transfer down to what will be the new hub crystal. She left a few locations off the network, however. While she trusted the historical society, she didn't want Joseph and Glenda getting caught in the middle of a mess without at least a few aces up their sleeves. Being able to teleport to an out of network location in the event the historical society was compromised would be key.

Although she had brought it up once before as pure speculation, Joseph and Glenda did not currently know they were her back-up in case _she_ was compromised in some fashion. If all else failed, they could escape and bring help. She'd need to clue them in soon. They probably won't like it.

She mulled over whom else to put on the secret secondary network but ultimately couldn't decide. Nopony else knew how to get out of Roanamia, much less where to get help if they _did_ somehow manage it. Only Joseph knew that. Glenda provided the clout he'd need to get past ponies shock of a small, friendly dragon talking about some lost country no one has ever heard of. She added providing a thorough description of Windwake, and how to get his attention to her mental to-do list. He'd be as skeptical as anypony right up until one of them says _Moon_ _e_ _y dun goofed,_ then he'd probably come barreling in here like the angriest goose in the park. Ideally with the entire Equestrian army, and possibly even the Trot Guard if they can round everyone up quickly enough (which usually involved shouting "unattended cake in the break room" off a prominent rooftop).

The spell copying preparation did not take long, and Joseph and Glenda did indeed dislike being back-ups when she informed them of the position a while later, but they did agree they had the best chance of making a difference if it came to that. Lunch came and went, Moonstruck took a long nap afterwards to catch up on some sleep, then settled in to going through the list of magic users the historical society had. Max had likely cataloged the ponies, as everything was very neatly documented and their overall abilities were ranked to the best of the Roanamian ponies knowledge.

She wouldn't be able to just start enchanting nodestones for everypony willy nilly - she'd need to do it systematically in stages - there were simply too many ponies to cover. It'd also be best if some of the ponies could learn at least a few of the spells themselves, though she didn't have much hope for that. The other problem was security; if a single nodestone fell into the wrong hooves it could spell disaster. She'd need to add a killswitch to the whole set-up so that stone could be wiped clean of enchantments in the case of a pony being captured. And possibly a phrase detector that might indicate a pony was willingly giving up their nodestones. The phrase detector would be the most difficult to enchant - although simple in principle, it was extremely high level magic to enchant an object in such a way that it had even a primitive intelligence of its own.

Team leaders were the most likely ponies to get nodestones first. Probably all pegasus ponies, now that she thought about it. Unicorns and earth ponies could wander around unnoticed, but pegasus ponies could not. Giving them the freedom to scout around, and learn the cities layout from the air would be extremely helpful in the long run. She'd have to talk to Evee to figure out who would get the first batch of nodestones, and any other fun goodies they could come up with that Moonstruck could feasibly enchant in mass quantities.

That brought her to another issue; how was she actually going to enchant everything by herself? At present she was the only pony who knew how, and likely the only pony actually capable of it at all. She could probably enchant nodestones in batches, without the voice activation aspect, then just add ponies in when they're assigned their stones. It was something she'd have to experiment with later.

Dinnertime rolled around, and they rolled out shortly after, simply teleporting down to the warehouse once they were sure no one would be coming to bother them for the rest of the night. Wenchell led them into the labrynthine storage areas, where they had moved their crystal collection - and what a collection it was!

Moonstrucks jaw flopped open when she stepped into what was now the crystal room. It was easily thirty feet deep by thirty feet wide, and the crystals were piled into corners, and stacked on shelves that sagged with their heavy burden. Larger ones were still in cloth lined crates, tiny ones occupied bins and buckets. There were easily thousands of them - maybe even tens of thousands!

"This'll work!" She declared, grinning.

"Not bad for some poor backwater country, eh?" Wenchell chuckled. "The biggest ones are in that crate there."

Moonstruck trotted over to the crate in question and let out an involuntary and entirely evil giggle. In it were three huge, uncut clear quartz crystals. Their size and natural facets would work perfectly as a nodestone network hub. She gently lifted the largest out of the box with magic and spun it slowly to inspect it.

"This'll do nicely." She beamed over at the others. She set it back in the box and closed the lid.

"Alrighty, do you have another out of the way warehouse I can take over?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" Lindsey asked, furrowing her brow.

"Nodestone networks _are_ traceable." Moonstruck shifted her weight a little. "A little one, like what I have going now doesn't cause many disturbances - especially if you don't know it's there. But a big honkin' one like what we're about to set up, with hundreds of ponies potentially using it at once? Yeah, someone could notice that. I doubt anyone in Roanamia knows how to detect it, but having an off-site home for the hub would be ideal. Just a little precaution."

"How far?" Lindsey asked.

"Far enough that you can move shop before they figure out where the main base is."

Lindsey furrowed her brow and stared at Wenchell, who was mirroring her expression.

"Site F?" He grunted.

"Yeah, that should work. We haven't used that one in a while, and it's never been compromised."

"Where is it?"

"Uh, under Tower Shade. Oddly enough, one of the best places to be is closer to the tower, sometimes." Lindsey chuckled.

They already had nodestones in Tower Shade, which made moving this thing around infinitely easier. "Nearest intersection?"

"Er… 35th and Gelderland."

"Easy peasy!" Moonstruck laughed. She spun around and inspected the various crystals once more. "What'll it take to get the site ready?"

"Uh, probably just a quick sweep to make sure everything's secure. We keep a few emergency supplies in there, just in case." Lindsey scowled at her as she levitated the box and trotted to the door with it floating along behind her.

"Are you gonna need anyone to tend to the crystal or anything?"

"Might not be a bad idea to keep a guard or two around to holler if someone comes poking around." Moonstruck grunted. "I still need to start setting up personal nodestones so that will have to wait. It'll be fine by itself for a while. It really only needs a closet or something."

The others moved aside as she reached the doorway, then trotted through. Max was coming down the hall towards them, but stopped as he spotted her.

"What's the news?" He asked.

"Gonna start setting the network up as soon as the site's clear." Moonstruck chirped.

Lindsey filled him in as they made their way out to the main portion of the warehouse. Wenchell had already run off to get a team together.

"I sent a crew out to Windmare bay to see if there were any survivors." Max said once Lindsey was done. "It's all through official channels, but if they find anyone, they'll be funneled into Historical Society run shelters and charities."

"Guess that loyal branch of the military comes in handy, eh?" Moonstruck quipped, impressed.

"Yes. And the tangled bureaucracy." Max chuckled. "There isn't really any official clean-up procedure after Mothers er... tantrums, and most would prefer not to further raise her ire by searching for survivors, or putting out any lingering fires – if there are any. I can usually quietly send forces in to do damage control while everyone is too busy looking the other way."

"Nice!"

"It still feels weird that we can do so much under the queens nose because so many ponies are so complacent." Lindsey wrinkled her snout.

"I'll take it. Makes things easier." Moonstruck grunted. It bothered her too, but it was too useful not to take advantage of.

They made their way out of the smaller warehouses and out onto the main loading docks, where ponies were piling up crates of the other things Moonstruck had asked for; jewelry making supplies, mostly. Everypony would need at least a crystal pendant for this. An earring as well would be ideal for more discrete communication, but she wasn't sure how quickly the group of ponies that had been selected for this task could work.

About two dozen ponies loitered around the crates, chatting among themselves. They fell silent as Moonstruck trotted over to them, her crate floating along behind her, and the rest of the group in tow.

"Jewelry making supplies, and jewelry making ponies, as you requested, your highness." A pale blue unicorn said, sketching a short bow. The two dozen ponies exchanged glances then hastily bowed as well.

"Thanks – Jack, was it?" Moonstruck nodded, doing her best to ignore the bowing. She knew he was the acquisitions guy, but she wasn't entirely sure about his name.

"Yes."

"Awesome. Okay – that's enough bowing. Ahem, anyway, I'm sure you're wondering what in blazes I'm up to." Moonstruck waved them over to the big table and pulled her necklace off, canceling its invisibility spell as she did so. She set it on the table.

"I got this from a thrift store a while back to use as a nodestone. Anyone know what those are?"

"Nodestones or necklaces?" One pony quipped.

"Either or." Moonstruck grinned.

"Nodestones are crystals that have been enchanted to do various things, or hold various spells. This one lets me communicate with Joseph and Glenda from anywhere in a twenty mile radius."

There were a few low whistles.

She gestured to Joseph and Glenda. "They have similar stones that also allow them to teleport, go invisible, and communicate with each other while invisible. All of it is voice activated. I'm going to make similar stones for as many ponies in the society as I can. But they're gonna need a way to carry those stones around with them at all times."

"Necklaces." One of the earth pony mares nodded.

"Yes. And one earring if at all possible. Makes the communication spell more discreet."

"Like radio ear pieces." A unicorn piped.

"Exactly. Only magic."

"How many are you going to need, and how soon?" The first earth pony asked.

Moonstruck half turned to look at the rest of the group. Max; Lindsey would get a necklace to go with her earring, Wenchell, Evee, Fern, Buster probably, what was the weapons pony, Patty, was it? Jack... it probably wasn't a bad idea to have a few extra.

"Lets shoot for a dozen for now, and an extra necklace, since Lindsey already has an earring."

The gathered ponies nodded and discussed a few things among themselves.

"We can't replicate this design exactly," the unicorn frowned and inclined her snout towards Moonstrucks necklace. "We don't have any tools to work the chains like that."

"It's fine, it doesn't have to match this at all – the crystal is the most important part. The jewelry mostly just needs to be sturdy. I'll enchant them after they're made – I've still gotta work out how to do it in batches."

"Good. We can get the first order going right away but we're gonna need more ponies to make some for everyone." The first earth pony frowned.

"Don't worry, you're just the experienced command group. We're gonna round up as many free ponies as we can to get on this." Lindsey reassured.

"And I'm sure many of the old and infirm would love to do more than sort documents and look after foals." Max added.

There were sounds of agreement and many nods at that, then the jewelry making squad moved off to where a workshop was being set up in one of the many warehouses the Historical Society had at its disposal. Wenchell trotted in as a crew appeared to move the crates to their final destination.

"The team is sweeping Site F now." He declared as he slid to a stop. "We can probably head over in a few minutes."

"Good." Moonstruck grunted. Running over a few things in her head. She half turned to look at Max. "When's the soonest we can head back down to the underground city?"

"Uh..." He shuffled a little. "I don't know. What – uh, sort of information are you looking for?"

"A powerful magical detection spell, and a magical tracer spell. Gotta check the ambient magic, and see if I can get an idea of Magmanus's power level remotely." She gave him a curious look.

"Right, right." He nodded and grimaced. "I can't go fiddling around in Mothers books again so soon."

"Yeah, didn't think so." Moonstruck nodded. "We probably only need a day."

"We should be able to sneak down pretty soon then." Joseph grunted as he scratched the side of his head with one talon. "Sometimes the queen seems to forget you exist."

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem. Guess we'll just have to play that one by ear." Moonstruck shrugged.

Max still looked a little uncomfortable but he didn't say anything. They headed down to Site F a few minutes later. Moonstruck would rather have teleported but the others seemed keen on going for a trot, so she threw a general invisibility shield over the group and set off with them.

The storm drains were moderately busy around the Historical Societies base, but thinned out as they drew closer and closer to the tower. They had to wait a few minutes in silence for a small knot of ponies to make their way along the opposite side of the canal before they opened the door to Site F, as it was a maintenance door fairly close to the main waterway. Moonstruck made a mental note to put up some sort of illusion or befuddlement charm near the door to make it a little more discreet. The team that had preceded them were all lounging around the small warehouse when they entered.

"Well, this is Site F." Max said as the first team sprang to attention. "It's more of an outpost than a base, when we use it."

Moonstruck nodded. She couldn't really guess at what it's original purpose was, since any equipment that might have been in here was long gone, and the Historical Society had only stashed a few crates along the far wall. It was not particularly large, and four normal sized doors graced the right hoof wall, one of which had a faded "restroom" sign taped to it. A few pipes ran along the ceiling and left hoof wall, and the lighting was supplied by a couple of strands of large electric bulbs strung along the ceiling.

"This should work." She nodded, then set the crate down in the center of the room. "What's behind those doors?"

"Closets, and we think a boiler in the far door. It's pretty old." Lindsey inclined her snout towards the door in question.

"Excellent" Moonstruck opened the door next to the theoretical boiler to see that it was a smallish walk-in closet that was appropriately empty. She pulled one of the big crystals out of the crate and set it down at the very back of the closet, propped up in the corner.

"Aren't you going to build a shrine or something for it?" Wenchell asked, poking his head into the closet.

"No?" Moonstruck gave him a confused look.

"Oh. Thought there might be... nevermind." He grimaced.

Moonstruck half closed her eyes and used her quartz pendant to connect to the hub back in her room. Locating the dormant copy of the spells, she lowered her head to point her horn at the big crystal in front of her. The crystal glowed brightly as she fed power into it, then used herself as a conduit to channel the spells from the already established hub into the big crystal. When it was done, she activated the spells, added the new base location to the list, laid down a few protection charms on the new hub, then sealed it all off. The crystal stopped glowing as she straightened up and nodded.

"All set." She backed out of the closet. "Just need to pile a bunch of random stuff around it hide it."

"That was it?" Wenchell asked. "It only took a minute. If that!"

"Yep." Moonstruck shrugged then turned to Joseph and Glenda.

"Hold still, lemme update your stuff here."

They exchanged glances, seemed about to protest, but a couple of quick zaps later they were both connected to the new network. Moonstruck would rework the old hub later, she just had to finish re-arranging the spells.

"Testing time!" Moonstruck entered stealth mode, then accessed the hub and teleported to a random location in Upriver. The next moment she was standing under a dead tree in a decaying park. She spun around to see if anyone noticed her presence, then accessed the hub to teleport to the tangled rose garden around the statue of Rosalina in the heart of Rose Lake She sneezed when she arrived there, which made her very glad to be in stealth mode. It was quiet here as well. She returned to the hubs new home and deactivated stealth mode.

"Works for me."

"All good." Joseph said as he popped into view a moment later.

"Works." Glenda grunted when she reappeared shortly after that. "I think it's a little faster."

"Yeah, a big crystal like that has more power capabilities." Moonstruck nodded.

"So... this means...?" Max asked.

"Just gotta make the necklaces and get them enchanted and distributed."

She stared at him for a moment. "You're powerful enough to do some of this stuff on your own, by the way. Teleporting and setting up nodestones takes some experience, but you should be able to cast an invisibility spell over yourself, and throw up some basic illusions."

"I...? Really?" He blinked a few times and took a small step back. "Does this mean I don't get a nodestone?"

"You're still gonna get one, but I wanna try to teach you to do some of it yourself." Moonstruck grunted. "If you can learn to enchant objects, that'd be a big help."

"Oh." He ducked his head and blushed.

Lindsey let out of weird squeaking noise as Wenchell cleared his throat. "So, what sort of security should we set up here?"

"Probably minimal." Moonstruck frowned. "Too much activity might draw attention. Just piling some random junk in the closet and keeping all the doors locked should be enough. I can put some magical tripwires on the doors to let us know if anypony comes poking around. Is there another outpost nearby you can keep staffed?"

"Yeah, there's another place like this about a quarter mile away." Max nodded.

"Perfect, I can link the wires to nodestones over there." Moonstruck mused, shifting her weight. "I can probably even do live feeds so they can actually see what's going on."

"Now you're getting' fancy." Joseph chuckled.

"Yeah, I take a notion every now and then." Moonstruck sighed wistfully. "Anyway, what else do we need to do tonight?"

It was generally agreed upon that mapping out where they should place nodestones was next on the agenda, so they trotted back to their main base to work on that. They'd been at it for about thirty minutes when Buster wandered in and plopped a stack of paper on the table.

"So, we figured out what was up with the stink." He spread the papers out, displacing many of the markers they'd placed for nodstone locations.

"Buster, we're in the middle of something here." Max gave him a flat look, ears pulled back in annoyance.

"Oh no, you'll want to hear this." Buster chuckled and selected a sheet of paper. "We couldn't find anything out of the ordinary on the hair and scale samples because the stink was kind of in another dimension."

Moonstruck perked her ears up as the others gave the earth pony strange looks.

"Another what?" Glenda asked, wrinkling her snout.

"Dimension. Er... realities close to ours, but different."

"There's... other realities...?"

"We think so. Anyway, what makes you say that?" Lindsey cut in.

"Well, Jenny ran some of the samples through our Mass Thaumonitor under the wrong conditions and we hit on a weird sequence in the magical spectrum." He pointed to the paper closest to Joseph. Moonstruck magicked it over to herself to take a look.

It was a print out from what must have been one of the earliest models of a Mass Thaumonitor. They were designed to break down the basic runes of a substance to see how it went together, and look for any stray enchantments that might be clinging to it. It was standard alchemical and arcane analytical equipment. She wasn't an expert on it, but she had a rough idea of what she was looking at.

"It's operating in the negative zone again." She muttered, then slid it over to Lindsey, whom likely knew more than she did.

"Yeah, Jenny accidentally punched in negative point oh nine instead of just point oh nine." Buster rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we figured the results were wrong because the numbers were wrong, but Jenny is kind of in to the occult, and she recognized some of the patterns in there."

He slid a second sheet out from the stack. "So she did... I'm not even sure on her formulas here, but anyway, she got some weird numbers from somewhere and plugged them into the MassThaum, and got _this_."

Moonstruck pulled the sheet to her and stared at the strange runes and equations gracing the page. The baseline numbers and graph lines were about what she'd expect for pony hair, but there was another line weaving through it that was absolutely bizarre. She hoofed the paper to Lindsey, who flicked her eyes over it and let out a long whistle.

"This would be consistent with something not quite in this dimension. Can I write on this?"

"Yeah, go for it."

She grabbed a pencil between her teeth and scribbled something down. Wenchell and Moonstruck leaned over to read over her shoulders.

"This is a really crude way of getting these results, but if you use these formulas it clarifies it somewhat" She said once she was done. She leaned back so that others could look at the equation she'd jotted down.

"Jenny might be on to something with her occult stuff." She chuckled.

"I had no idea a MassThaum could detect things in other dimensions." Wenchell muttered.

"Heh, neither did we." Buster chuckled. "Anyway, she was able to reliably replicate her results, so we went down to the underground city to gather more samples - "

"WHAT!?" Max yelped. "I didn't authorize that!"

"You were busy! We just popped down for a few hours a couple mornings ago. Nothing happened." Buster rolled his eyes and waved the princes concern away.

"You didn't remove anything, did you!?" Lindsey asked, alarmed.

"Of course not, we just swabbed a bunch of surfaces and dipped a few strips of litmus paper into some of the puddles." Buster huffed. "We're not that stupid, sheesh!"

"Anyway, we didn't notice any smells while we were down there, but we knew the creatures come and go through there all the time, so they probably left some residue. Ran the samples through the MassThaum and got the same results. Since we had a lot more to work with, I plopped some of the swabs into a transmutation circle to see what it would take to summon the essence of the creatures that left it."

He slid a third sheet of paper forward. This one was hoof written.

Moonstruck leaned over to peer at the results along with several other ponies. Buster was apparently an accomplished rune-writer and had written out his results first in runes, then in the common tongue. She felt a chill creep down her spine as she read the runes first.

"They're undead."

"Yep. Price of essence retrieval would require a particular potion that I do not know how to make - and a life, which I am not inclined to take." He nodded and leaned back on his stool. "They're somewhere between a ghost and ghoul, as near as I can tell. Not alive, but not dead."

The others began murmuring, Max seemed like he wanted to dig out a paper bag. Moonstruck found herself slowly nodding as the memory of her first encounter with the creatures drifted across her minds eye. This somehow wasn't terribly surprising. A thought struck her.

"Wait, how did you power a transmutation circle long enough to get a reading for this?"

There were two types of alchemy: a potion based system that was akin to chemistry that most ponies could do, and a more magically based alchemy that involved transmutation circles and equivalent exchanges that generally only unicorns could do. The latter was fairly advanced stuff, and it seemed unlikely that there was a unicorn here that could do it. She'd assumed that when Buster had said he was an alchemist he'd meant more of the potion based type, seeing as how he was an earth pony.

"Tesla coils." Buster shrugged. "Turns out electricity is a pretty good substitute for magic if you make your transmutation circles out of copper wire."

"Huh. Never would have thought of that."

"Question." Joseph raised a hand. "How does this explain the stink?"

"Oh, we figure the smell is a sort of side effect. Those creatures aren't completely in this dimension, and when there's a bunch of them in one space that's basically what the friction between realities smells like. We think. Get too close to 'em and you get the stink too!"

A few ponies laughed awkwardly, while Moonstruck let out a hearty guffaw.

"So yeah. Still don't know how to get rid of it aside from a lot of soap and water, as you guys found out." Buster gathered up his papers.

"Sunlight helps too." Joseph added.

"Makes sense." Buster shrugged. "And so ends another thrilling adventure of little meaning."

"Well, we finally know what those creatures are. Sort of." Lindsey grimaced. "That's not entirely meaningless."

"Well this whole venture was to figure out how to get the stink out. They got it out on their own pretty much immediately." Buster huffed. "Mostly it was an interesting side trip."

He finished gathering his papers and left. The others shuffled around awkwardly and began putting the markers back where they had been.

"Should probably go talk to him later." Lindsey muttered, nudging Max in the flank.

"Yes, I plan on it." Max sighed. "I really wish he hadn't taken a team down there...

"I didn't know they went either. At least nothing bothered them while they were there." Lindsey frowned.

"Do you think the distortion could have pulled them into this realm?" Moonstruck asked, half turning to look at Joseph.

He shrugged. "Maybe? I dunno."

They settled back in to what they had been doing before, which they had, in fact, been nearly done with. At least phase one of nodestone placement. Phase two would depend on how phase one implementation went. They disbanded after they finished, as it was late, and most ponies had daytime activities they needed to be alert for the next day. The jewelry making ponies would likely have the first batch done by tomorrow, and Moonstruck wanted to get as much sleep as she could before she tackled enchanting multiple nodestones at once.


	31. Chapter 30

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

"Sooo, how does this all work?" Max asked.

"Uh... what part?" Moonstruck grunted absently as she inspected the earrings and necklaces spread out in front of her. The historical society had given her a small office to use for enchanting. Presently she was seated at the desk, the first batch of nodestone jewelry in front of her. Max had perched himself on a stool that was much too small for him, and placed said stool in the corner, even though there was plenty of space on the opposite side of the desk for him to hang out and observe. He didn't seem particularly fidgety, so she couldn't fathom why he was intend on cramming himself in the corner.

As for the nodestone jewelry, she was impressed; the jewelry making team did very nice work. She hadn't requested anything fancy, but they'd done some interesting things with copper wire, and glass beads to accompany the simple shards of quartz. She wouldn't be surprised if they were all professionals driven out of business by the drought; not well known enough to do business in more affluent circles where such trinkets were still regularly bought.

"All of it?"

She glanced up at him to see him grinning sheepishly.

"I wasn't going to teach you to do this just yet." She wrinkled her snout then turned to rifle through her saddlebag. "Enchanting objects is more advanced, and I don't do it in a standard way."

"Oh." He sounded crestfallen.

Finding one of the golf-ball sized crystals she'd pulled from the storage room, she placed it on the desk in front of her, then arranged all of the necklaces in a semi-circle around it. It had occurred to her that she could probably use the same spell copying technique she'd used on the hub to enchant multiple necklaces at once.

She straightened up, eyed the arrangement critically, then nodded to herself. Then she went to work, laying down the foundation spells within the larger crystal. Leaving the spells unfinished, she then linked the necklaces to the hub crystal, then copied the spells to each of them. To her delight, the spells transferred smoothly from the hub to the necklaces with very little effort.

Satisfied, she pulled an earring closer to herself, and linked it to the first necklace in her arrangement before adding in the spells to let it act as a discreet speaker.

"Okay, this is ready for the voice samples. Start rambling."

"Uh... about what?" Max pulled his ears back slightly, a faint blush darkening his cheeks.

"Anything. Doesn't matter. Maybe add in some monotone bits for when you're out in public." Moonstruck shrugged and readied the voice recognition part of the spell.

"Oh... er... um..." He hemmed and hawed for a few seconds more than started off into a ramble about some chunk of history he'd been researching for fun. Moonstruck let him ramble for a full minute, sealed off the spell temporarily, then reminded him to speak in monotone for a little while. He did, switching it up to a conversation he'd had with a few barons a while back. Once the voice variance was added in to the spell, she ran him through the magic words, then recorded the final voice samples, and sealed up the spells. Then she carefully layered a killswitch on top of it. Unfortunately, still hadn't figured out how to formulate a spell that would recognize if they were being betrayed.

"Okay, that should do it." She magicked the necklace over to him and slid it carefully over his head, then clipped the earring to one ear. "Wanna test it out?"

"I -is this just like Lindseys with a disguise and everything?"

"Uh, no. You have stealth mode, which is an invisibility spell with a silence bubble, access to the teleportation network, a communication spell, and - as long as you're wearing the necklace - you can see and hear anyone else who's invisible by my spellcasting." She jerked her head in the general direction of the main warehouse.

"Lindsey got the disguise so she could go back to some sort of life. Didn't know she could just hide out down here, at the time."

"Ha ha, right." He nodded then hesitated. "Er... so I just tell it where I want to go?"

"Yep. Here, I'll go with you. Lets hit up Tower Shade 6." Moonstruck said, standing up. She activated stealth mode, then waited for him to do the same. Once he was properly invisible, she found the nodestone in question and teleported to it, finding herself standing by a dumpster in a silent alley a moment later. Max popped into existence next to her a few seconds after that.

He stared at her with wide eyes, then looked around.

"Amazing!" He breathed. "Where to next?"

"I dunno, Rose Lake 2?"

"Alright."

A moment later they were standing on the sidewalk of the far southern edge of the overgrown rose garden. Max let out a surprisingly high pitched giggle. "Now where?"

"Now we fly a little, I think." Moonstruck chuckled. She crouched and spread her wings.

"Wait! The eye!" Max yelped.

"It can't see us, we're fine. I'm pretty sure it's not working right, anyway." Moonstruck waved his concern away, then bounded into the air.

It took him a moment to follow, but he did eventually join her in the air.

"Oh yeah, lets check the communication node, I'll head east, you go west."

"Alright."

They split, gliding leisurely ten minutes in their designated directions. Once Moonstruck was well across the river, she called up his nodestone.

"Yes, hello, I'd like to order a large summer squash pizza with extra garlic."

"Oh wow! This is incredibly clear!" Max laughed. "Much better than our radio frequencies!"

"Yeah, it gets a little fuzzy in distorted areas though." Moonstruck chuckled. "Lets try a conference call..." she called up Joseph and Glendas nodestones.

"Guys, I'm ordering pizza, what do you want on it?"

"Oh, hello. What's pizza?" Glenda asked, sounding slightly startled.

"Bacon. Lots of bacon. Like, all bacon." Joseph said, not missing a beat. Moonstruck was mildly surprised he knew what pizza was.

"Oh wow!" Max laughed again.

"Hello dear! Do you know what this pizza business is?"

"She's joking, we're not getting pizza. I think." She could practically hear Max grin. "And it's a sort of large flat bread with cheese and tomato sauce and other toppings on it."

"Oh, that does sound good! Joseph, what's bacon?"

"Extra special pig meat."

"Oh! I'd like some bacon on mine, if that's possible."

Moonstruck giggled and curved around to head back towards where they'd last been.

"Just out of curiosity, _is_ there anywhere to get good pizza this time of night?"

"Uh... there used to be a place over in Crystal Creek, but I honestly have no idea if it's still there – I've never been to it myself, but it was popular with the society for a while, before the drought got really bad." Max was quiet for beat. "Are either of you with Lindsey?"

"I am." Glenda said.

"Could you ask her if that pizza place in Crystal Creek is still there?"

"Okay."

Moonstruck could just see Max as he glided in her general direction.

"She says she thinks it is, but she's pretty sure they had to reduce their hours and raise their prices when veggies got too expensive and hard to get." Glenda said after a few moments.

"Also she says hi."

"Hi Lindsey." Max chuckled.

"She says if you're bringing pizza she wants a basil supreme."

"I don't have any money on me, and if I did, I don't think it'd be enough to feed everyone who's hanging around tonight."

"I've got some money, but yeah, probably not enough." Moonstruck piped. "Where is this place anyway?"

"Uh, Crystal Creek is the extreme northwest side of down." Max said, his voice echoing oddly over the communication node, since he was now in earshot.

"Lindsey says it was called _Rigatoni's Pizzar_ _i_ _a_ , on Woodrow near 348th if you want to check it out." Glenda said. "Also they could start a pool if you really want to get pizza."

"I'll consider it, if it's open." Max chuckled. "Uh, how do I hang up?"

"You just – oh I still need to show you how to do that. I'll just hang up. We'll keep you posted, guys."

"Thank you."

"BACON." Joseph insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Moonstruck shook her head and severed the link. If the place was open, and _if_ they were able to scrape up enough money for a dozen or so pizzas she sincerely doubted there'd be any meat, but a dragon could dream, she supposed.

"Wow." Max breathed, looking around. He flexed his wings and angled off towards the north. "This is – you know I've never been able to just go flying around like this? I always have to be going somewhere."

"Doesn't surprise me." Moonstruck grunted.

"It's a nice night, too. I think we're getting towards the end of the worst nighttime heat."

"Yeah, it is a lot cooler." Moonstruck agreed.

They glided silently for a few minutes.

"Oh, uh, you said you had money?"

"Yeah, had to procure some funds for some stuff." She shrugged.

"Er... _how?_ "

Moonstruck grinned at him, not sure if she wanted to tell him, or show him. He probably wouldn't make it through a few hands of cards, now that she thought about it, so she settled for telling him. Max spent the next few minutes rubbing his temples with his hooves as Moonstruck continued grinning.

They took their time getting out to Crystal Creek to enjoy the pleasant evening. Moonstruck was mildly surprised to find out that the neighborhood was actually a suburb of Bridle-Dur, the lights below became more and more sparse as they made their way to the northwest corner of the city, and disappeared entirely in the near distance.

"Is that Roanham out there?" Mooonstruck asked as they passed over a low chain of hills to reveal a dry creek bed that wound its way through a sleepy little berg that was partially disconnected from the rest of the city by said hills on its southern edge.

"Yes. The suburbs used to transition out to farms, but they've all been abandoned." Max said, inclining his snout towards the dark horizon. "Nothing grows out there anymore. Well, not until you're practically to Maredor."

"Glacier meltwater." Moonstruck grunted.

"Yes. Though even that's failing in strange ways." Max wrinkled his snout, then gestured to a dusty patch of grass and dying or dead trees below. "We should land in that park."

They dipped into a shallow dive, and he continued.

"Eira never speaks of it directly, but the glacier water is contaminated somehow. It tastes horrible, and causes stomach upsets, but won't kill you if you drink it unfiltered. Crops don't produce well with it, and the harvest is bland and watery."

"I think I've noticed that."

"Yes. Unfortunately I can't get an environmental crew up there to investigate why. Eira doesn't want me poking around up there, I'm afraid." He grimaced.

They settled to the ground, their wings kicking up swirls of dust and dead leaves. After a quick shake off to get rid of the worst of it, they set off on hoof.

"I'd say she does, just not out on the glaciers." Moonstruck commented, fighting back a smirk.

He gave her a funny look then looked up at the nearest street sign. "Ah, a few blocks north, then..." he ducked his head and blushed darkly.

"Just figured out what I meant, didn't ya?" Moonstruck grinned.

He cleared his throat. "Yes. Well, I suppose she won't bother me anymore about it since she seems to think I prefer stallions now. Not sure where she got that idea."

"You don't want to know." Moonstruck grumbled.

" _You_ know?" He gaped at her.

"And I don't want to know! It's... well you know her, so you can probably guess." She stuck her tongue out, then shook her head.

He scowled out into the darkened neighborhood. "When you put it that way; you're right, I don't want to know."

They walked north a few blocks, found Woodrow street, then turned west to head into a commercial district. It was about as dead as everywhere else in the neighborhood, but as they walked, a little bit of activity began to picked up around a theatre. They crossed an intersection, then spotted the pizzeria in question on the north side of the street. It was still open.

They exchanged glances then trotted across the street. It sounded fairly lively in there, and it smelled fantastic. Moonstruck felt her stomach rumble, and reminded herself that she probably didn't have enough money to take enough pizza back for everyone.

"Don't block the door," she reminded as they came to a stop just outside. Max shuffled to the side.

They were open only until eight pm most of the week, but Fridays and Saturdays they were open until one am. It was Friday, so they were operating on the later hours, probably to cater to the theatre-goers down the block.

"It's almost midnight, isn't it?"

"Uh, yes, probably. I think it was a little before, when we left." Max said.

Moonstruck shifted her weight, her stomach was presenting a very good argument.

"So... it's been a while since anypony's gotten pizza from here, right?"

"Yes."

"And they're closing in an hour, so they couldn't fill a big order in that time even if we had enough money to pay for all of it."

"Yes..." He gave her a funny look.

"So I'm thinkin' we should get a pizza for quality control reasons. If it's good, we can make a big order some other day. If it isn't, we're the only ones who had the bad pizza, and there's no harm done."

Max stared at her with ears pulled back. He seemed about to protest when his stomach rumbled as well. The protest turned into a blush.

"Yup. We need pizza. C'mon, time for some disguises!" Moonstruck grinned and trotted around to the nearest alley. She confirmed that it was empty, then donned the blue unicorn mare illusion she'd used to meet the historical society for the first time. Max gaped awkwardly at her. He had not dropped stealth mode.

"What?"

"I... er, I can't do that."

"I know, I can do it for you, no worries." She accessed his nodestone and canceled stealth mode for him, then threw an illusion over his features, cooking up a tall (but not gigantic) blue roan unicorn disguise on the fly.

"There you go. Your wings are invisible still, so be careful about brushing them against anyone or anything." She nodded once, satisfied with her work, then strolled out of the alley.

"Uh... are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No, but my stomach thinks so." Moonstruck grunted. She pushed the door open and ambled inside, Max slinking in fearfully behind her. The room was dimly lit largely by candlelight, and a record of something a bit bouncier than the usual chamber music provided a mellow soundtrack under the soft drone of conversation. She'd expected Max to straighten up out of his crouch once he realized no one was paying attention to them, but if anything he sank lower, which _was_ starting to raise some eyebrows.

"Relax," she whispered. "Act like you belong here and no one will give you a second glance."

He seemed unconvinced, but did at least attempt to rise up out of his crouch.

Moonstruck weaved her way through the crowded pizzeria, eyes flicking over the menu on the wall above the counter. They only had three pizzas on the main menu, and one rotating special. Basil supreme, roasted beet and onion, and plain old cheese. The special was a roasted cauliflower and spinach pizza with caramelized onions and sun-dried tomatoes. The prices were fairly absurd, but she'd expected that. She had enough for a single large pizza and that ate up over half her funds.

"Thoughts?" She asked as Max sidled up beside her.

"Uh, Lindsey always gets a basil supreme." He stared up at the menu. "My favorite isn't on there anymore, I think. Roasted carrot and cauliflower."

"The special sounds good."

"It does," he agreed.

Moonstruck stepped up to the counter.

"Welcome to _Rigatoni's Pizza_! Are you ready to order?" The cashier asked, beaming brightly, though she looked tired.

"Hi, there! Yes, we'd like a large special." Moonstruck said, fishing some coins out of her little pouch.

"Anything to drink?"

"Just water is fine."

"Alright, for here or to go? There's extra seating on the roof, by the way."

Moonstruck glanced back at Max. He shrugged.

"That sounds fun – for here."

"Excellent, that'll be eight hundred and fifty rubees."

Moonstruck paid the appropriate coinage, plopped a generous amount in the tip jar, then accepted the glasses of water that were magicked over by a unicorn. She sent one to Max then levitated the little number marker the cashier provided so the waiter could find their table. Then she set off to the staircase.

The roof was more quiet than down below. The occupants were mostly couples on dates that were huddled around small tables. The tables held candles in red jars that cast a warm glow between them. Moonstruck snagged a table near the north side of the roof and settled in on one side, as Max carefully maneuvered into the other.

He looked around nervously then hunched his shoulders and giggled softly. "I can't believe this!"

Moonstruck sipped her water, noted it was gritty, but not slimy, at least, then set the glass down. "Eh?"

"I've never been out in public like this before!"

"You wander around the club all the time though." She pointed out.

"Clu – oh right. But that's different. And..." he grimaced and pulled his ears back a little, "there's still a bit of an, er adjustment period for most ponies."

She was about to ask what he meant when it hit her; his draconic features.

"I'm used to it." He continued, straightening up a little. He frowned. "But it's, well it's a reminder that I can never really blend in anywhere."

Moonstruck frowned, realizing why he'd asked about a disguise earlier.

"I'm sure everypony will get used to it eventually, once all's said and done." She said slowly, not sure if she should offer to add a disguise in to his nodestone or not. It was probably better in the long run if ponies just got used to him, but if he was that uncomfortable….

"I suppose." He shrugged again.

She sensed it would be wise to change the subject, so she adjusted how she was sitting and cleared her throat. "So, what do you ponies do for fun around here?"

"Uh... well, good question, actually!" He chuckled. "Soccer's pretty popular. Reading, music, going to plays. Um... many ponies in the club enjoy dice, and card games."

"Huh, I kinda thought fun wasn't allowed." Moonstruck grinned.

"Unofficially it isn't." Max snorted. "But, well, ponies figure out ways around things, as you're well aware. What sort of things do ponies do where _you_ come from?"

"Oh, all kinds of stuff." Moonstruck waved a hoof flippantly. "Sports, art, music, reading, writing, traveling, all sorts of games, surfing... cooking, eating, uh... dancing. I can't even list it all, really."

"Sounds nice."

"It is."

"It's hard to imagine." Max murmured, gazing out over the sleeping city to the vast empty darkness beyond the edge of the suburb. "This is all I've ever known."

"Yeah, sometimes I wonder if this is all a bad dream." Moonstruck sighed, following his gaze for a few moments before tilting her head back to look at the sparse stars and moon stained orange from the pollution. "I can't imagine spending a lifetime here."

"I have, and I still have a hard time with it." Max shook his head.

She didn't really know how to respond to that, so she didn't. They couldn't really discuss the _coup_ here – or much of anything else, for that matter - which left them with small talk punctuated by short silences. The pizza came after fifteen minutes, which solved many of their conversational problems.

It was pretty good pizza all and all. The veggies still had that strange watery flavor, but they'd managed to minimize it to an amazing extent. Moonstruck suspected it would be a top notch pizza with proper ingredients.

They finished up, got a box for the half of the pizza they didn't quite have room for, then left the roof about ten minutes before closing. Moonstruck was mildly surprised the couples up there seemed disinclined to leave; most everypony on the ground floor had either left, or were getting ready to do so. They went ahead and wandered back down the block in disguise for a while, since there were a few ponies out and about, then slid off down a side street to switch back into stealth mode.

"Definitely adding that place to the network." Moonstruck chuckled once they were aloft. She realized after a moment she hadn't enchanted the pizza box and quickly cast an invisibility spell over it, even though there wasn't really anypony around to see it.

"Guess you'll have to fly back at some point."

"Heh, no I already left a nodestone near by. I just need to extend the range of the hub – I didn't extend its radius out this far."

"Really?" Max looked back the way they'd come. "When did you do that?"

"After we left. I always keep a few pebbles and things with me for this sort of thing." She shrugged.

"For good pizza places?" He furrowed his brow.

"Good pizza places, strategic locations, saloons with rich and gullible patrons."

He heaved a sigh. "Right."

Moonstruck chuckled softly. Once within range of the hub, they teleported back to headquarters. Moonstruck didn't actually need to be within range of the crystal, since she could access the network herself from a much greater distance away, but Max could not, and she didn't feel like teleporting him along with her.

Thankfully few ponies were milling around, so the matter of the pizza was easily settled when they found Lindsey, Glenda and a few others in a conference room.

"You actually got pizza!?" Lindsey yelped as Moonstruck canceled the enchantment on the box and plopped it on the table.

"We _sampled_ a pizza." She corrected. "And it's still good. But they're only open until eight, most days. Friday and Saturday are the late days. And they're very pricey."

"I'm sure we can manage." Lindsey muttered, flipping the box open. Glenda curiously peeked over her shoulder to take a look.

"Hmm, never had this one before." She selected a slice for herself, then moved aside to let Glenda and the others grab some. "So I take it you stuck around and ate it there?"

"Yeah."

Lindsey let loose a slow, weirdly sinister grin.

"No bacon?" Glenda asked as she sniffed her slice curiously and casually nudged Lindsey with one wing, which prompted the little unicorns grin to soften into something more innocent.

"No, no meat." Moonstruck gave them an odd look, but decided not to ask.

"Joseph will be so disappointed."

"He'll live."

* * *

A/N: Chill chapter is chill.


	32. Chapter 31

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

For several days Moonstruck enchanted small batches of necklaces and got them assigned to their ponies. Joseph and Glenda stepped in to help train them how to use them, but it was clear this method wasn't efficient enough. Especially since Moonstruck also needed time to actually get out in the city to expand the nodestone network. The extra ponies could scout around and find good locations for them – and even leave blank nodestones, but Moonstruck still needed to enchant them herself and add them into the network as it all hinged on her memories of the location.

She needed a better way to enchant the necklaces, and a way for the nodestones to automatically add themselves to the network, once activated. She had no idea how to do the former, and only a rough idea of how to do the latter. All of this meant they needed to attempt the underground city again in hopes of finding more advanced nodestone spells, but that was proving difficult as well. Max was reluctant as ever to go down there, and Lucena kept dragging Moonstruck off for brunches and lunches and various oddball functions around the city. This both hampered their efforts to make a research trip, and limited how much time she could spend with the historical society.

On top of all that, the nights where she had a full eight hours of sleep available to her were the ones where she was awoken by nightmares. They didn't bother her when she fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion, but even a little bit of restful sleep would be tainted with visions of cannon balls blasting through dilapidated buildings, ponies on fire, fowl smoke that twisted into ugly, multi-headed dragons that gobbled up any pony unlucky enough to stray within their reach.

There were already a few variations on the nightmare; sometimes it was simply the memory of the most horrible day at the coast she'd ever had. Others she was on the ground, running through the burning village with the ponies who'd lived there, neither able to stop the destruction, nor escape from it. Another was an especially distorted version with dragons raining doom upon the townsponies, instead of airships.

But through it all, no matter how real, or unreal the nightmare was, there would be a thin red mare with yellow eyes that pierced the smoky gloom. She was unfazed by what was happening around her, and impervious to any attack Moonstrucks dreaming self could hurl at her. When Moonstruck eventually shook herself awake, she was always torn between screaming out in agony, and marching up stairs to kick that smug grin off Lucenas face.

Sleep became something she avoided. She started taking necklaces back with her to enchant for as long as she could before exhaustion finally took her. When working quietly in her room didn't seem to cut it, she'd fly out into the city to place nodestones until nearly dawn. Sometimes she simply flew circuits around town, building up her strength. When there were enough pegasus with nodestones to fly around in stealth mode, she would probably round them up to do the same.

Just when it seemed Lucena would never give them enough time to head down to the underground city, she left abruptly on a trip to Maneas Tirith. She didn't even drag Max along with her – just Kyrenai, as far as anypony knew.

"I don't like it." Max grumbled as their search party made their way down the many stairs and hallways that led to the portal that was the freight elevator. "Something's up. She never leaves out of the blue like that without taking me with her."

"Any idea what she's doing?" Lindsey asked.

"Not a clue. She just said she'd be back in a few days." Max shook his head.

"Did she leave you in charge?" Wenchell asked.

"Ha! Of course not. She's got some baronesses covering for her, and her staff mostly knows what to do."

"Maybe she finally decided to retire, and she'll never come back." Moonstruck muttered. "That's how mine did it."

"Your mother?" Max asked, lifting his head to look at her over his shoulder. Moonstruck was more towards the middle of the pack this time, trudging along through sheer force of will.

"Yeeeeeeeuuuuuuup." She sighed. "Said she was going for a fly one evening and just never came back."

"That's... wow. I'm sorry."

Moonstruck shrugged and did her best to ignore the concerned look Glenda was giving her.

"That would make things a lot easier." Lindsey said slowly. "Though I doubt that's what she's doing."

"We sent word to our contacts in Maneas Tirith, so they're on high alert." Fern grunted.

They reached the freight elevator, piled in to it, then piled out the other side. Max let out the first curse words Moonstruck had ever heard him utter when he saw that the bulk of the city had been destroyed.

"Wha-what happened here!?"

"Eh, that was me." Moonstruck grimaced, stepping past him to the edge of the platform."I was... a little distraught after we got back from the coast."

He was not amused, she sensed. Deciding to let him stew by himself, she leaped off the edge and made a b-line to the university – which was about as pristine as it could be. The cool subterranean air helped wake her up a little as she went. She needed to be as awake as she could be, they had a long day of rifling through books. Possibly several long days of it, depending on what they could find, and how long Lucena was out of town.

The rest of the fliers joined her shortly, and in a few minutes they were setting up camp in the magic section of the university library. Moonstruck had brought a few larger crystals with her to enchant with light spells for better illumination. She suspended them in air strategically around the magic section, then set to work pulling books off shelves.

She knew she'd run into a few nodestone books in here before, but she was having a hard time remembering where she'd seen them. She was vaguely aware of the land-bound ponies joining them a few minutes later as she scanned shelves, and flipped through crumbling tomes. This was one of the many, many times she wished she had some form of caffeine. A fifty gallon drum of caffeine.

 _Elbrights Guide to Advanced Spellcasting_ provided a few spells she already knew. A few other general magic books had some variations on things she knew as well, though not the variations she was looking for. As time went on, and relevant information remained scattered she began to wonder if the library was somehow actively keeping them from finding what they needed. She'd found quite a few more shield spells this time, and in books she was fairly certain she'd searched before. But few nodestone spells.

Moonstruck paused and shook her head. Although magical libraries did tend to create some odd phenomenons at times, and there was enough distortion down here to make searching in general difficult, it wasn't possible for the library to go around hiding its own books, was it?

She stared at the shelf in front of her, wondering if the lack of sleep was seriously impairing her judgment. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to ask, she opened her mouth to do just that – since Joseph was just up on the top of the book case – when a spark jolted down her spine and all of her glowing crystals died and dropped to the floor, leaving their electric lanterns to provide the bulk of the illumination, and plunging her particular isle into shadow.

Now very much awake, Moonstruck looked up at Joseph, whom was standing up tall to see what was happening in the doorway across the room.

"We have company." He hissed.

Moonstruck scrambled up the aisle and slid to a stop as the doorway came into view. A lone creature stood in the entryway staring blankly in to the now dimly lit magic section. She could hear ponies scrambling to gather their things a few rows over. She backed slowly into the shadows, then ran back down the aisle to the far end of the library to avoid crossing into the creatures line of sight.

When she came within view of the windows, she noted that it wasn't dark outside, but there were a great many creatures milling around down in the courtyard. Swearing under her breath, she dodged down the appropriate aisle to see ponies backing away from the opposite end of the book shelves.

The creature was moving slowly towards the ponies, its form flickering and shifting in impossible ways in the yellow light of the electric lanterns. Moonstruck teleported to the other end of the table. Or she intended to anyway, she only made it half way, and thankfully just plopped down on top of the table, instead of somewhere in the middle of it.

"My magic isn't working... no ones is!" Max whispered, swallowing hard. He was already breathing too hard.

Gritting her teeth, Moonstruck galloped down the table and lunged out in front of everypony, lowering her horn and flaring her wings as her hooves touched the ground. Joseph hissed from the top of the book case, but the creature did not seem to notice him.

"Now what?" Glenda murmured from somewhere behind her.

"We retreat as best we can." Moonstruck growled. "Joseph, you think you can gently flame it?"

" _Gently?_ "

"Don't wanna burn the place down with us in it."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't burn it down at all." Max muttered.

"Not now, Max." Lindsey snapped.

"Right." Joseph hopped down, slinked towards the creature and breathed a small plume of flame in its face. The creature bounced back a few paces and shook its aetherial head. Or at least, Moonstruck thought it did. It was so hard to tell with these things. He went to do it again but paused and stood up tall again.

"Uh... it's got friends."

"How many?"

"A dozen? Maybe more. They're hard to count."

Someone behind them let out a startled scream.

Moonstruck lifted her head to see another creature come oozing around the corner at the far end of the book shelves, its strange body silhouetted for a moment against the blown out windows.

"Oh no, no no no!" Max moaned, hopping up onto the table as ponies scuttled around in a panic.

"We can't, how can we - "

"Joseph!" Moonstruck barked.

"The floor's stone, should be alright!" He yelped, then breathed a larger plume of dark red flame along the floor. It rolled out across the open space between the shelves and the doorway, sending creatures scrambling to get out of the way and scorching what bookshelves were in its path, though they did not catch fire.

"GO! GO!"

Moonstruck led the charge, barreling out of the aisle as fast as she could, ponies bunched up behind her, Max brought up the rear. Joseph darted ahead and breathed again as the creatures began to regroup, but another pack of them was just coming up the last flight of stairs. Moonstruck slid to a stop and gestured for the others to head right, instead of left once out of the magic section. Away from the stairwell and towards the end of the hall where she hoped there'd be another staircase, or a fire escape or a neighboring roof close enough to jump across. She shot a few low leveled blasts at the creatures but they just oozed around them.

"No, no don't go that way it's a dead end!" Max yelped when he emerged from the magic section. "The emergency stairs are gone! They collapsed long ago!"

"Well, we can't exactly take the main stairs!" Moonstruck snapped, gesturing to the hordes of creatures making their way slowly up the staircase.

The alicorns backed down the hallway, trying to keep themselves between the creatures and their team. Joseph joined them, positioning himself between them and just a little ahead.

"I can blast 'em again, but they're just gonna keep coming!" He growled.

"Where does this hall go?" Moonstruck asked, glancing over her shoulder to see Glenda trotting ahead with a lantern, looking in doors, as a few others trotted out behind her to do the same.

"Uh, geography section, and some storage areas." Max glanced back as well. "And what's left of the back stairs."

"Are there - "

A pony stumbled out past them, moving towards the encroaching horde of creatures with a strange, jerky gait.

"Oh no!" Max gasped, scrambling forward to grab her. He hooked a foreleg around her and dragged her back. "Oh no, it's starting!"

Moonstruck stared in horror at the muted colors and blank, dead stare the mare wore. She struggled weakly against Max as he hoofed her off to Wenchell to hold on to, and a few others pushed them towards the middle of the pack, even as a pegasus attempted to slip past Moonstruck. She pushed him back with magic, glad to see it was at least working sporadically. Probably not enough to make a significant difference though.

"What's happening!?"

"They're trying to join them – the creatures call to you – I – I guess it effects some ponies more strongly than others!" Max shook his head. He was sweating profusely and he was deathly pale, though not in the same way the bewitched mare had been.

Moonstruck was surprised Max had ever let anypony spend any time down here, much less came down enough to figure out the schedule these blasted creatures kept. This time they didn't have the luxury of hiding out on buildings. With magic destabilized, she couldn't just move everyone to rooftops, nor teleport everyone at once. The creatures seemed to have lost interest in her somewhat, focusing instead on the whole group.

"We should never have come back down here." She growled, pulling her ears flat against her skull and lowering her head. She hated being cornered, but that's where she'd found herself. The rest of the ponies did their best to stay behind them, but with an increasing number of the group trying to join the creatures, they were having a hard time backing down the hallway. She wondered how badly Max would react if she blasted the library apart (if she could blast it apart, that is). Probably pretty bad. He hadn't been particularly pleased that she'd blasted the rest of the city, even though there wasn't anything useful out there.

"I was afraid this would happen." Max groaned. "They never did this before you three came!"

"You're blaming us?" Moonstruck quipped.

"Er... you mostly. Something about alicorn magic, I think." He grimaced.

He probably wasn't wrong. Moonstruck tried a shield spell, but it flickered and died before she could even fully project it.

"There's nowhere to go – the doors don't lock, and there's nothing to put in front of them!" Glenda yelped from somewhere behind them.

"Any rooftops close enough to jump to?" Moonstruck barked.

"No!"

"Wait, alicorn magic!" Wenchell blurted. "Use your alicorn magic!"

"What do you think I've _been_ doing!?" Moonstruck shouted over her shoulder.

"No – I mean... stuff that's unique to alicorns!" Wenchell continued. He grunted and shifted his grip on a unicorn whom was struggling fiercely, eyes fixed and dilated as she tried to join the slowly approaching creatures. "You can sing, right!?"

"What? Yeah? But so can a lot of other ponies...?" Moonstruck wrinkled her snout. She _was_ the scourge of a number of karaoke bars, and that one talent scout _had_ tried to rope her into being lead singer of a sort of _Queen_ tribute band (even though she didn't even come close to Mercury Risings' range – may he rest in awesomeness), but this was hardly the time for _Bohemian Rhapsody_. Or was it? No, she really needed Breezy, Patch and Windwake to do that one properly. She shook her head.

"Yeah, but they're not princesses! _Alicorn_ princesses, specifically. Don't you have some kind of authoritative voice or something you can use for that?"

Moonstruck furrowed her brow to match her wrinkled snout. "No? Not really? I don't know, I've never tried!"

"No wait, he's right, I remember reading that about alicorn princesses! You're all supposed to have heavenly voices that can tame savage beasts and stuff like that!" Lindsey piped.

"That's the first I'm hearing of it – I mean, yeah we can all sing, but it isn't magical singing. I think." Moonstruck glanced at Max, who shrugged. "Have you tried it?"

"What!?" He jerked back in horror.

"Well, technically you can be considered an alicorn, and you're a prince, so theoretically you should be able to." She nudged him. "Give it a go."

"I – uh... I..." He stammered, somehow managing to sweat even more.

"MOONSTRUCK!"

"Fine fine, I'll give it a shot." She really didn't think it would work. She took a deep breath and sang out the first thing that came to mind;

" _This is the song that doesn't end_

 _yes it goes on and on my friend!_

 _Some ponies started singin' it not knowing what it was_

 _and they'll continue singing it forever just because..."_

The creatures paused for a moment then continued moving towards them.

"Yeah, didn't think so"

"Augh! Try something, I dunno, pretty!" Wenchell growled.

Moonstruck turned to give him a look. Then turned back. Heaving a sigh, she wracked her brain for something more _pretty_. Something that could potentially tame savage beasts, or at least get weird undead, stinky polymorphous pony-creatures to leave them the buck alone. Maybe something cathartic? If they were undead or otherwise in some sort of limbo, cathartic was probably a good idea. Then it hit her. And it sounded good _a capella_ too, provided she could do it any sort of justice without any kind of warm-up. Most _Flora and the Machine_ songs took some warm up for her, but she could hopefully make do. She cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and sang out as clearly as she could.

" _Regrets collect like old friends..."_

The creatures slowed, turning their ethereal, shifting heads this way and that. She lifted an eyebrow.

" _Here to relive your darkest moments_

 _I can see no way, I can see no way..."_

She took a step forward. They stopped.

" _And all of the ghouls come out to play..."_

She took another step forward, they took a step back.

" _And every demon wants his pound of flesh_

 _But I like to keep some things to myself..."_

It started to grow quiet behind her, but she dared not turn around to see what was happening with the bewitched ponies.

" _I like to keep my issues drawn..."_

As she sang, another nightmare insinuated itself into her consciousness, the image of the village by the sea, the feeling of hopelessness as the airships opened fire, the almost palpable fear of the ponies down below, the rage and anguish that came exploding into her heart later, when the numbness wore off. Moontruck faltered, then squeezed her eyes shut. There was only one way out of this, she sensed. She grabbed hold of all of the regret in her body and threw it as hard as she could into the song.

" _Shake it out, shake it out!_

 _Shake it out, shake it out! Whoa!_

 _It's hard to dance with the devil on your back so shake him out!"_

The creatures began to retreat more quickly, though she was only dimly aware of them as she found herself in a weirdly emotional trance. The song compelled her to move forward, so she did; striding slowly and purposefully towards the creatures, whom yielded quite readily. The song heavily implied that dramatic wing flaring and mane tossing would be nice as well, so she went along with it, throwing in a bit of choreography, and leaping up on to the wide railing of the balcony once she reached it to take advantage of the various angles of the room to harmonize with herself in the echoes.

Dreamily she pushed the creatures back, moving from railing to stairs, stepping down them as gracefully as she could, dimly aware of the others following cautiously in her wake, and even another group of creatures further beyond that. They kept their distance, which was all that mattered.

A little bit of reality seeped in as she realized she was reaching the part of the song where she'd need to hold a fairly high note for a pretty long time, and that she didn't have any back up singers to do all of the other stuff happening at that point, so she'd probably have to improvise quite a bit. Unsure what to do, she just went ahead and belted it out anyway, and to her surprise, a few of the others picked up the chorus and were stamping their hooves to the beat!

Now most of the way back to being in full control of herself, she half turned from her perch atop the banister to see a trio of earth ponies – two mares and a young stallion - keeping up the chanting part, they watched her closely, though there was a sort of glazed over look to their eyes, like they weren't entirely in control of themselves either. Maybe there was something to that magic signing after all!

Moonstruck was finally able to finish the note, then switched to the final stretch of the song, gesturing to those not singing to join in. Many did, though Max remained focused on the creatures, whom were rapidly backing away as more ponies joined the chorus.

Once they were outside, and her voice was threatening to give out, she gestured to her impromptu choir to start settling down, finally ending with a lone note that faded into a profoundly loaded silence. She sniffled softly and wiped a few tears from her eyes, a little bit embarrassed to get so emotional over a song.

A deep sense of expectation settled in to her bones. The creatures were still now, standing a good fifty feet away on all sides. And, if Moonstruck was not mistaken, they were much more solid than they had been. They seemed to have settled on a tribe of pony; their forms shifting like a bad film transfer and not so much oozing and morphing into one tribe or another. They stared, but they were no longer looking at her. They were staring expectantly at Max.

"I think it's your turn." Moonstruck muttered.

He looked at her and swallowed hard, a deep blush darkening his cheeks.

"I-I don't know anything like what you just sang! And I probably cou-couldn't get through it anyway!"

"Weren't you working on translating Conte Kanno's Lament and putting it to music?" Lindsey whispered.

"M-mostly just translating it for Sadie - sh-she was the one who thought it would make a nice song!" The prince sputtered. The creatures began to grow more restless, a few started to move closer. He cowered.

"And, well we were both working on the composition, but I can't – I can't!"

"I think you have to." Moonstruck murmured, locking her eyes on to one unicorn-creature that had stepped out in front of the others. A pegasus stood a little ways behind, and to the side. The rest of the creatures advanced no further. As she watched, she realized some of them were alicorns. Their forms did not shift, but they had both wings and horns and they stood taller than the rest. They stood behind the unicorn, but seemed unwilling to leave the greater crowd. And the longer she watched, the more she realized the pegasus was as tall as the alicorns lurking in the back.

Max was staring at the unicorn. He'd stopped breathing. Moonstruck bit her lip, sidled cautiously over to him, and nudged him with one wing.

"Max. You need to sing."

He sucked in a sharp breath, panted a bit, then tilted his muzzle down as he pulled himself up to his full height. He scowled so hard it had to hurt, and pulled his ears back.

" _H-heaven's n-not en-enough_

 _if when you get there it's just another blue_

 _A-and heaven's not enough_

 _y-you- you think you've found it and it looses you..."_

Moonstruck blinked back her surprise as the prince slowly and shakily found his voice. Apparently _all_ alicorns were good singers, not just the mares. She shouldn't be surprised, but she was. Though the way he was singing it was a little off – it would probably make a great rock ballad. She'd have to run that by this Sadie pony later.

As he worked his way through the song, he gained more confidence, cautiously raising his head and his voice, and stepping away from the team, though he never ventured further than a few feet. Moonstruck glanced back to see the others grinning, or with jaws on the floor.

The creatures did not move away, but swayed softly back and forth, their forms becoming still more solid, colors started creeping in to their quasi-discernible forms, though never enough to fully identify. A hint of blue here, there an impression of orange, an idea of pink or green, of deep chestnut, or creamy white. The colors flickered across backs, along wings, through manes and tails, never lingering any more than the most fleeing of moments.

Max hit his stride as the song changed it up to something a little more intense, really throwing emotion into it. Moonstruck almost knew where she could jump in and sing harmony, but some of the lyrics were a little awkward, and outside what she knew how to improvise on, so she did not. Those must have been some work-in-progress areas. Other ponies knew though, the same trio whom had started singing back-up for her started to do the same for Max, though they had a less glazed over look to them, which meant they were likely familiar with the song.

When the song ended, and the last echoes of Maxs voice faded in to the unnatural twilight, the creatures began to disperse. They crept away silently, peacefully, their forms remaining fairly solid, a sense of satisfaction hanging in the air. The alicorns seemed to exchange glances before simply dissipating into the subterranean gloom.

Two creatures remained, the unicorn, and tall pegasus. They continued staring at Max for a few moments longer, then they exchanged glances as well. But they did not dissipate, nor wander off. They walked purposefully past the huddled team of ponies, then looked back expectantly.

"They want us to follow them?" Lindsey whispered.

"I think so." Moonstruck frowned.

The pair took a few more steps, then looked back again.

Moonstruck looked up at Max. He had produced a paper bag from somewhere and was hyperventilating into it. He didn't seem particularly keen on going with them.

"I think we should go." Glenda grunted.

All eyes turned to the old mare.

"I don't think they mean us any harm, anymore." She elaborated, glancing back for a moment to briefly make eye contact with Moonstruck.

Moonstruck shifted her jaw around a little, exchanged glances with Joseph, then lowered her head. She probably trusted Glendas judgment better than her own.

"Alright, lets check it out."

Joseph grumbled something under his breath, but began working his way out of the pack of ponies, as he'd somehow ended up in the middle. Once they were free of the crowd, they cautiously approached the pair of creatures, but a shuffling of hooves drew their attention backwards. The team was following them, except for Max, who was still breathing rapidly into his paper bag.

The creatures did not go any further.

"I think they want you to come too." Lindsey stage whispered to Max.

He stared at her, then up at the creatures, then down at Moonstruck. She shrugged. He shuddered, pulled the bag off his snout, tucked it under one wing, then reluctantly caught up. This did indeed seem to be what the creatures wanted. They started off again, not looking back as they partially trotted, and partially floated through the tangled streets. At first, Moonstruck couldn't figure out where they might be going. The neighborhood around the university was about the only part of the city left standing, and they seemed uninterested in picking their way through the wreckage.

Joseph tilted his head left and right then began looking around as they turned down a side street that angled back towards the university.

"What's happening?" Moonstruck whispered, sidling closer.

"They're taking us through the breaks but... something's weird. I didn't notice them going anywhere different before." He murmured.

"They are now?"

"I think so." He scowled. "It's... very subtle."

"Can you get us back?"

"Yeah, we can still just go straight back if we need to."

She scowled and glanced at Glenda to see if she'd caught any of that. She had an ear turned their way so she likely did, although she wasn't as familiar with the way the broken magic worked as Moonstruck, much less Joseph.

They emerged from the shadow of a pair of tall buildings to stand upon the shore of the lake. Moonstruck slid to a stop, every last hair on her body standing on end. Last she knew they'd been trotting parallel to the water, not heading straight towards it!

The alicorn creatures oozed up out of the water and walked slowly on shore. Now that she could see them more clearly, Moonstruck realized they were less solid than the others. More like impressionistic shadows that flickered in dim candle light, more easily seen with peripheral vision that dead on, especially the way their manes and tails waved in that mysterious arcane breeze that older, more powerful alicorns seemed to pick up at some point.

The unicorn and tall pegasus stopped at the edge of the water and stared back expectantly as the alicorns placed themselves atop a pair of broken pillars that once likely formed an archway or gate. The water bubbled between the pillars then split, revealing a staircase that led down to the lake bed.

Once the water settled down. All of the creatures turned and stared expectantly at a pony towards the back of the pack. Moonstruck turned around, not surprised to see Max had gone deathly pale, and was fumbling for his paper bag, even as he stared at the pathway that had been revealed for him.

"Why me? Why me?" He whimpered, dropping the bag for the dozenth time.

"Well, you _are_ the prince." Moonstruck grimaced, lifting the bag off the ground, but tucking it under her own wing. "You have birthright type stuff. Maybe even some destiny stuff going on."

He looked absolutely horrified.

"I can't go down there – the lake, they always try to drag ponies into the lake!"

"And now they are _inviting_ you." Glenda said softly. "You have to be brave."

"I can't – I'm not fearless like Moonstruck!"

Moonstruck quipped a quick laugh as Glenda shook her head and walked over to stand next to him.

"Bravery isn't being fearless – bravery is doing something _even though_ you are afraid." She gently placed a wing on his shoulder. "I can feel it in my bones, they will not harm you. Nor will they harm us while you're gone."

He stared down at Glenda, tears in his eyes. Just when it seemed he would turn tail and run, he bowed his head, pulled his ears back, heaved a shaky sigh, then started towards the stairway. Moonstruck fell into step beside him, intent on going with him as far as they'd let her.

It did not turn out to be very far.

 _You cannot accompany him, Daughter of House Sol-Chronos._

Moonstruck came to a sudden stop as the voice echoed across her mind, her fur standing on end as a jolt of electricity raced up her spine. She immediately flicked her eyes to the nearest alicorn creature. Its gaze was upon her, though she could not exactly make out its face.

"Uh... this is as far as I go." She muttered, as Max looked fearfully back at her from a few steps ahead. They were about half way to the edge of the lake.

The tears were running freely now, and he was shaking so badly Moonstruck was surprised he was still standing, but he nodded and turned ahead once more. She stayed put as he slowly made his way to the stairwell, then, with one last look over his shoulder, he plunged down the stairs. For an instant he seemed to change, the scales disappeared from his back, and he had feathered wings instead of leathery spans. The image was so fleeting Moonstruck wasn't sure if she'd seen it at all.

Once he had disappeared down the stairs, and nothing seemed to have happened, she retreated back to the team.

"What was that song you started out singing? The one that doesn't end?" Buster asked slyly after a short silence.

Moonstruck grinned at him.

* * *

Max couldn't believe what he was doing. This was quite possibly one of the most dangerous things he had ever done, and this was including even thinking about planning a rebellion under his mothers nose. Though admittedly that had ended up being considerably easier than anticipated. Likely because he'd long existed in a paradoxical world wherein Mother simultaneously watched him like a hawk, while thinking him incapable of anything remotely threatening.

As he stood at the top of the stairwell, he was a little surprised to see that the lake was not deep – perhaps only twenty or thirty feet to the bottom, and it was not cold so close to the water. He did not allow himself to think about it any more than that, and lunged recklessly down the stairs, lest he lost what was left of his nerve. He reached the bottom and waited a few heartbeats to see if anything horrible happened. Everything remained quiet. The alicorn creatures had opened up a path through the lake leading towards the base of the phantom tower, and the walls of water to either side of him were still and glassy. Nothing moved within it, but it was so dark he'd be hard pressed to see anything even if it did.

Feeling somewhat reassured, he pressed forward, holding his body low as he carefully slinked along the path, keeping his eyes and ears pealed for any hint of monsters.

When the inevitable came, he was perhaps a hundred yards from shore, and it happened so quickly he didn't have time to start running. One moment he was walking down a bone-dry path in the middle of the lake. The next he was being swept deep into the lake that had collapsed on him so suddenly he had continued breathing even as the waves pulled him under.

As panic caused him to flail and struggle and attempt to swim, some tiny, weak voice somewhere in his head pointed out that he was, in fact, still breathing. Underwater. Confusion overrode panic, and he stopped moving. It was pitch black now, so he couldn't see what was going on – he could certainly feel the water flowing around him. He knew he was moving well past the depth of the lake by the rising pressure on his hears, yet he was breathing heavily with no ill effects. It didn't even feel like what he imagined breathing water would feel like, all thick and fluid, his lungs laboring with the strain of moving a much denser material than they were used to. It felt like air.

The pressure became just shy of unbearable, then it started to taper off as he felt himself rising. Then his hooves inexplicably touched bottom. He soon found himself standing in neck deep water, then chest, then knee, then finally perhaps only an inch. Considerably disoriented, he shook off and spun around, his hooves splashing very softly on what now must be a thin film of water over a hard surface. Just as he was wondering if a light spell would work, a shooting star arced over head, and as it passed, more stars winked to life, eventually spreading across the entire sky, and reflecting on the damp ground around him like a glassy mirror.

It was breathtaking.

He wasn't sure if he was no longer afraid, or if his fear had simply reached a point that he was no longer consciously aware of it.

A pair of stars flared brighter than the others, then dropped out of the sky. Max took a small step back as he realized they were headed right towards him. They flared again as they approached, and when the light settled down to less than blinding, two alicorns appeared at the core of the blaze. He felt his blood run cold as he saw the identical red roan markings, the twining rose crowns upon each noble brow and the twin rose over a starburst cutie marks gracing their haunches.

With a flare of white and red wings, Rosalina and Raysel – the founders of the country, and his most ancient and honored ancestors settled to the glossy surface of the lake bottom.

Max immediately dropped into a low, wide winged bow, all of the fear that had either left him, or moved beyond his ability to notice flooding back in.

"Rise, young Maximus, and fear not." Said Raysel, his voice so low it caused the thin film of water to ripple beneath Maxs hooves. "You are our honored guest."

Max very shakily returned to a standing position, unsure if it was acceptable to look directly at the ancient alicorns, though he found his gaze drifting upwards anyway. They were tall; taller than any pony he had ever seen, and they looked upon him with great sadness and affection. Their manes and tails waved and billowed in a supernatural breeze, and they glowed brightly. The water reflected their glow with little ripples and rivulets of bright rainbows.

"Know that while our time in the mortal realm is long past, and we can no longer interfere, we still watch over you." Said Rosalina, her voice so smooth and lyrical it was almost as if she was singing. "Know that you are loved."

He swallowed hard and nodded, the tears that had been washed away by the strange water threatening to burst forward once more.

"We can only speak to you now as unusual circumstances have allowed it." Raysel bowed his head slightly.

"And we have little time to do so, so listen well." Rosalina continued.

"As you have likely already surmised, the creatures in the section of underground city are dead. What you do not know is that they are the souls of all the ponies your mother has killed over the years." Raysel closed his eyes and shook his head sadly.

"They cannot pass on. The shield which your mother has placed over the country has warped the magic within so badly that even the dead cannot find a release." Rosalina sighed heavily.

"And if this distortion is allowed to continue, every pony currently living under the shield will suffer the same fate."

Max bit his lip, a wave of secondhoof guilt washing over him.

"But there is still hope. More hope than you realize."

"You were wise to brave the City of the Dead to seek the knowledge housed in the library." Raysel smiled faintly at him. "But you have precious little time to make use of that knowledge. The city will soon become inaccessible to the living. With the combined power of all the souls residing in the city, they can stabilize the magic there for precisely twenty four hours."

Max felt a bit of panic creep up his spine. That wasn't enough time!

"When you are returned, the clock will be reset, and a new section of the library will be revealed to you." Rosalina stared firmly at him. "You must remove as many of the books from that section as possible. There, you will find answers to many of your questions, and numerous spells to use in your rebellion."

"The way to collapse the shield is in there?" Max gasped.

"No, it is not. Your mother destroyed and hid away any reference to the shields operation long ago." Rosalina shook her head. "And we cannot tell you how to do it, for even we do not know."

"But you do not _need_ to know. The daughter of Sol-Chronos has already damaged the shield greatly." Raysel rumbled, an odd expression passing over his features. "It needs but a nudge to bring it down entirely."

"What?" Max blurted, then sheepishly ducked his head.

"Although she does not know it, Princess Moonstruck punched a hole in the shield to enter into this place." Rosalina smirked as Raysel grumbled not quite under his breath.

"She also damaged some of the crystals maintaining the edge of the shield in the process, weakening it significantly. Additionally she inadvertently created a thin thread of power connecting her to the outside world – which is why her magic has not faded, though it pains her to use it in excess."

Max stared off into space for a moment the words _when I overdid it in the crystal mines_ drifting across his mind. He made a mental note to ask her _exactly_ what she'd done, when he got back.

"She damaged it further when she destroyed part of the City of the Dead." Raysel added. "Her magic was so great it destabilized the shields power source. Another good hit shall bring it down, although you will not be able to do so from the City of the Dead. It must be done above ground."

"You know where the power source is?"

"Yes, of course. You see it every time you enter the City of the Dead." Rosalina chuckled.

"The phantom tower!" Max sat down abruptly. To think they'd been wandering around in sight of the power source the entire time...

"You are indeed wise, young one. But now you must return." Rosalina smiled fondly at him.

"T-thank you." The words sounded so inadequate but he could not think of anything else to say. He scrambled back to his hooves, then quickly bowed again.

"Thank you _so much_."

"Farewell young prince, and remember; you are loved." Raysel said gently, growing taller.

"You might want to hold your breath this time." Rosalina noted, also stretching high into the sky.

"Huh?" Max looked down as he realized the ancients weren't growing taller, he was sinking into the ground. Maybe it had been water all along, and he'd just been standing on top of it. He heeded Rosalinas words and quickly sucked in a big gulp of air just before his head was pulled underwater.

Things happened very quickly this time; he was dragged under, spun around a few times, then pushed upwards once more, but whatever current had guided him gently to the realm of the ancients seemed to have lost interest in him and wandered off, so he had to swim the rest of the way. He breached the surface just before he was about out of air, barely remembered to exhale before he gulped in more air, coughed, flailed and floundered for a moment, then took a big breath once he was properly treading water.

Panting, he spun in a short circle to get his bearings, then hastily paddled towards shore as ponies appeared at the edge of the lake. He dragged himself on shore to a flurry of questions, then sent everyone running as he shook off.

Legs splayed, and head held low, he stared up at them in the resulting silence, only one thought managing to make it past everything that had just happened.

"We have to get back to the library!"

* * *

A/N: The musical selection of the evening is, _Shake_ _It Out_ by Florence and the Machine, and _Heaven's_ _N_ _ot_ _E_ _nough_ by Yoko Kano with Steve Conte from the Wolfs Rain soundtrack. Which is an amazing song, but I feel like they kinda overused in the show.

This one of my favorite chapters. I actually wrote this well before the story got to it, and couldn't figure out how to connect it to everything for the longest time. But then it just kind of all fell together one day.


	33. Chapter 32

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

"We have to get back to the library!"

Max did not explain, simply stumbled off into an awkward shuffle that evolved into a swift trot. The team exchanged glances then scrambled after him. Moonstruck coming up on one flank as Lindsey took the other.

"What happened?" Lindsey barked.

"I was transported to the realm of the ancients! I think." He panted, a wild look in his eyes and a grin tugging at his lips. "We only have twenty four hours to clear out a new section of library. Then we can't come down here anymore."

"Uh..."

"Realm of the ancients?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow. "Like, ancient alicorns?"

"Yes!" He crowed, bouncing ecstatically.

Moonstruck and Lindsey exchanged glances. She'd certainly never seen Max bounce before, and going by Lindseys expression, neither had she.

"I actually spoke with Rosalina and Raysel!" He giggled.

Moonstruck was beginning to think he'd lost his mind down there and hadn't quite gotten it back yet.

"Right. And what'd they tell you?" Lindsey asked flatly, apparently on the same page as Moonstruck.

He told them. In excruciating detail. After he was done, Lindsey still seemed skeptical but Moonstruck was starting to believe him.

"A _third_ time?" She asked. "What were the first two times? I don't remember damaging anything but myself."

"Ah, yes, apparently you did it when you first entered the country It was the crystal mines – what did you do, exactly? I know you said you overdid it." He glanced at her then turned a corner. They were almost back to the library.

"Just that! There's a bunch of really big crystals down there that were absorbing ambient magic. I sort of overwhelmed them to let myself fly across a chasm 'cause I couldn't fly at the time because of aforementioned power-sucking crystals." She grimaced. "I lost control of it. It wasn't pretty."

"She damaged a bunch of the crystals." Joseph piped from somewhere behind them.

"Yes, that's what they said! The crystals were the outermost edge of the shield – when you damaged them, you damaged the shield itself!"

"Huh." Moonstruck was a little impressed with herself. Here she thought that had been a massive mistake on her part. It still was in the personal well-being category.

"What was the second time?"

"When you blasted the underground city. Your magic was so powerful it destabilized the shields power source – the phantom tower is it! It's the power source! It's been right in front of us this entire time!"

Moonstruck lifted her head and looked over her shoulder to where the glow of the strange structure was just visible over the buildings. It certainly was magically dense enough to be the shields power source, but it existed in such a weird state she never would have thought of it. Especially since Lucena didn't know this place existed. Unless what they saw here was more of a mirror of something that was actually on the surface somewhere.

"Huh!"

"They also told me you inadvertently created a thin thread of power connecting yourself to the outside world, which is why you've remained largely unaffected by the shields influence."

"Huh!" Moonstruck repeated.

They raced up the libraries front steps and paused as they entered the lobby. Sure enough, a new hallway was sitting directly across from the main entrance. Max charged gleefully ahead as the rest of the team exchanged glances before trotting after him. The hall was short, and contained first an alcove with restrooms and a rusted drinking fountain on the wall opposite the lavatories. Then there were a few fallen beams blocking a staircase that went downwards.

Moonstruck easily levitated the beams out of the way, then joined the unicorns in casting their light spells as they plunged downstairs. The staircase twisted down a story, then opened up into a large room with a maze of shelves and stacked books. There were easily tens of thousands of books here!

Moonstruck sent her light spell up to the middle of the ceiling and intensified it. "There's no way we're going to get all of this out in a day!"

"Evee, head back to the surface and get more ponies, lanterns, and wagons." Max barked as he trotted into the room. "Moonstruck, can you set up a teleportation point from the bottom of the fire escape to the top, then another point in the pump room so that we can ferry books up to that point, and simply teleport them back?"

"If I can teleport in and out of there, yeah." Moonstruck nodded.

"Good, get going on that. Lindsey, take a few ponies up to the magic section to get our gear. Everyone else start pulling as much as you can off the shelves and placing them in _neat_ piles in the lobby. _Neat._ Maybe... two dozen books to a pile. No time to sort through them, just grab what you can."

Max immediately began doing that. Pulling as many books as he could manage from the nearest shelf and setting them on the ground next to him.

Moonstruck grabbed a good three dozen off the nearest shelf, then turned around and trotted back upstairs with Evee keeping pace at her side and a few ponies gathering behind them. While she went, she summoned her collection of crystals down from the magic section, cast her light spell on them once more, then teleported them to Glendas nodestone. She'd probably figure out what to do with them after the shock wore off.

"He must have really spoken with the ancients!" Evee panted as they hit the top of the stairs. "I've never seen him so animated!"

"Yeah!"

Moonstruck cantered across the lobby as Evee took wing to head out a window. She set her books in _neat_ stacks near the door then attempted to teleport across the room. It worked. Grinning, she placed a nodestone near what once would have been the front desk, then bolted outside. She slid to a stop in the middle of the courtyard and placed another nodestone. From there she took wing, heading towards the top of the fire escape as fast as her wings could take her.

Landing heavily on the top landing, she wedged another nodestone in the grate closest the wall, then called up the node she'd left in the library courtyard to be sure it was working alright, then teleported down. It worked as well. Cackling to herself, she teleported back up to the top of the stairs, then barreled into the freight elevator. Evee had left both sets of doors open, and she was mildly surprised that there didn't seem to be an issue with crossing through both thresholds without first fiddling with the doors. Then again, Max had said magic was stabilized down here, maybe they did something about the distortion too.

It took only three switchbacks to reach the pump room. Here she placed yet another nodestone, then very cautiously called up the stone at the top of the metal stairs. It... well it was hard to describe where in blazes it was in her mental network, but it was there. Swallowing hard and squeezing her eyes shut, she cast her spell.

She cracked one eye open and looked around. She was at the top of the stairwell, and not in it, or half in the wall or some other horrible thing.

Letting out a truly evil laugh, she teleported up to the pump room, then called up the nearest nodestone in the storm drains. She could teleport completely out of the distorted areas as well. Which meant they could ferry books from the library courtyard, up to the top of the metal stairs, then to the pump room, then directly back to base. She strongly suspected they couldn't go directly from the library to the pump room, but this worked alright, as it provided several staging areas.

She was going to need every pony with an enchanted necklace, and a temporary hub. Nodding to herself, she teleported back to base just in time to catch Evee as she was flying around rounding up ponies. Moonstruck explained the slight change of plans, then darted off to select a good crystal for the hub, as well as a few other odds and ends. She'd probably have to place it in the pump room because of the distortion, but she could easily link it up with the primary hub from there to make the jump back to base very smooth.

Once she had a suitable crystal, she teleported back down to the pump room to set up the temporary network properly and suspend a few glowing crystals around the room to illuminate it. Then she drew a large circle with a piece of chalk, labeled it _Teleport Zone; Stand Clear_. Once everything was set, she teleported back to base.

"Oh! Perfect!" Evee landed next to her a few moments after she materialized in the warehouse. "Everyone's on their way, if they aren't here already."

Moonstruck looked out at the ponies being hitched to wagons. All wore necklaces, though there were only two dozen at the moment. It was enough to start.

"Awesome." Moonstruck grunted then trotted over to them. "Okay, gather 'round, this is how this is gonna work."

The ponies exchanged glances then trotted out to meet her, forming up in a semi-circle around her when they were an appropriate distance from each other.

"It's a long story, but basically we've been granted permission to remove as many books as we can from a previously hidden section of the university library. There are _a lot_ of books. Magic down in the underground city has been stabilized for twenty four hours, so I've set up a temporary teleportation network that'll let us ferry books from the courtyard outside the library, to the top of the metal stairs, to the pump room, then finally back here."

She glanced over at Evee as the gathered ponies gasped and murmured softly.

"Whaddya wanna do with the books once they get here?"

"Move them into a good spot and get a team sorting through them." Evee grunted. "I've already got ponies setting up one of the larger warehouses."

"Awesome." She told the team what the names of the new nodestones were.

"Space is limited in the pump room, and on the landing, as you well know. When we start, you need to teleport one at a time, and give each other at least twenty seconds at the pump room to move out of the way. Do not teleport to the landing until you've been given the all clear – actually, we're gonna need coordinators at each teleportation point to avoid pile ups once we start properly making trips. I'll head down and get someone out in the courtyard to load books and manage traffic there. Any questions?"

There were none, so Moonstruck wrapped things up.

"Alright, lets get moving, times a wasting and I dunno how this all works with the time distortion!" She moved past them to the wagons.

"Y-your highness!?" A unicorn yelped as she inspected the harness of the wagon to see if she could adjust it to fit her.

"What?" She asked, glancing up at him, "we need all the help we can get here."

"I... er... but..."

The harness just barely stretched large enough to accommodate her bulky frame. She wiggled in to it, then tested the weight of the wagon. It wasn't uncomfortable empty, but there was no telling how it would be full.

"Anyone volunteering to be a spotter down below, don't grab a wagon, just come with me."

A pair of pegasus exchanged glances and trotted over. Moonstruck vaguely recalled they were sisters.

"Cool. What were your guys's names again?"

"Oleander." Said one.

"Olivia." Said the other.

"Alright, these are your teleportation coordinators. Oleander has the pump room, and Olivia is at the top of the stairs, I trust you know how to contact them."

The ponies nodded. Once she was sure everypony was clear, she teleported herself and the two pegasus down to the pump room.

"Oh, it's bright!" Oleander laughed.

"Yeah, figured it'd be nice to be able to see what we're doing." Moonstruck chuckled as she quickly moved out of the danger zone.

"Okay, I marked the teleport landing area there. Actually, should put an X over here for where outgoing ponies will appear." Moonstruck shuffled over to near the stairwell and put a big X with her piece of chalk.

"There's enough room in here that you should be able to shuffle ponies around easily enough."

"Okay, who gets priority? Incoming or outgoing?" Oleander asked.

"Whoever gets to the teleportation points first, basically. I'm sure whoever's dealing with things back at the base will contact you once they're ready."

"Okay." She nodded.

"Call if you have any questions." Moonstruck turned to look at Olivia. "Ready?"

"Yes."

Moonstruck teleported them to the landing. It just barely held one wagon. Olivia descended the stairs a short ways.

"Whoo, that's tight! Alright, same deal, but you only have space for one pony teleporting either in, or out. You can stage ponies back down the hall if you need to, but it will get very crowded very quickly if you do."

She nodded.

"All set?"

"I think so."

"Good, I'll call when I know who's coordinating stuff in the courtyard." Moonstruck nodded, then teleported herself down to the library. There were already a good amount of books piled up in the entryway. Getting the wagons up and down the steps would be a trick, which was why she had placed a nodestone in the lobby. She loaded the nearest stack of books into the wagon, then slipped out of the harness to run downstairs.

"Alright, I've got the network set up, and ponies with wagons are incoming. Just need a coordinator or two down here." She panted when she found Max.

"That was fast! I hope we still have the time distortion in our favor." He frowned.

"Was wondering about that myself." Moonstruck grimaced.

"Want me to go up and check?" Joseph asked, appearing around a corner with a small stack of books.

"Yeah, actually, that would be great!" Moonstruck called up Olivias nodestone. "We're sending Joseph out to see what's up with the time distortion, is it clear?"

"I was just gonna fly." He said.

"It's clear." Olivia replied, her voice slightly staticy.

"Oh, he's just gonna fly. Well still not a lot of space at the landing." Moonstruck waved a hoof. "Anyway, let Oleander know, please."

"Will do!" She chirped.

Moonstruck severed the link and nodded to Joseph. He trotted up the aisle and out of sight.

"Okay, I have Lindsey on the coordinating, and Wenchell is going to load books. What are you doing?" Max grunted.

"Loading and hauling, I figure. Already snagged a wagon." Moonstruck shrugged.

"Oh!" Max looked a bit taken aback.

"What? I can pull." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "Draft type, remember. Plus alicorns are earth ponies too."

She lifted a foreleg to flex a few muscles.

Max sputtered a few times, blushed and looked away. "That's not, er... It's fine. Anything helps."

Moonstruck shook her head then trotted back towards the stairs.

"This one yours?" Wenchell asked once she hit the lobby.

"Yep." Moonstruck nodded. She checked to be sure the load wouldn't shift in any weird ways, then wiggled back into the harness.

"Never thought I'd see an alicorn hitched to a wagon." Wenchell muttered.

"It's a weird day." Moonstruck sighed. "Anyway, I've got a nodestone in here, and a nodestone in the courtyard. Once a pony is loaded up, you're gonna need to contact Lindsey to make sure it's safe to teleport to the courtyard."

"Right." Wenchell nodded. "From there the top of the stairs, right?"

"Yep. Olivia's coordinating things up there."

"Okie dokie." He looked bored.

"Don't worry, you'll be busy soon enough." Moonstruck grinned at him, then teleported down to the courtyard.

She told Lindsey what she needed to know, then called up Olivias nodestone to find out what was happening up there.

"Oh good, I was about to call you – they were waiting for you to get back before they start, to make sure everything times out okay." She said.

Moonstruck shrugged. "Whatever works. I'm on my way back."

"Alright, all clear."

Moonstruck teleported to the top of the stairs with her load of books, then up to the pump room. From there it was back to headquarters, and she was glad to see everypony either hitched up, or ready to channel arriving ponies off to the side to offload books.

"All set down there, you can go at any time." She grunted as she headed towards a knot of unicorns and earth ponies whom would be offloading the books.

The ponies exchanged glances then started moving past her, to their departure point. The first one disappeared as Moonstruck reached the off-loaders, though she was easily able to transfer her load to their carts on her own. She made her way along the chalk lines guiding her back to the departure point to pick up another load.

She sighed when she reached the end of the line and settled in to wait. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Joseph, meanwhile, was trotting swiftly down the tunnel that led to the storm drains. It had only taken three go-arounds through the halls and stairwells to get to the pump room, and while he knew he could teleport from there, he wanted to get completely clear of the distortion before he did so. He could still sense the distortion, but it was different now, like the pieces had been re-arranged. Whether or not they had been arranged in their favor was yet to be seen.

He activated stealth mode as he approached the larger tunnel, paused to look around once he was out, then teleported back to their suite. The spell always plopped them in to Moonstrucks room, where there was no clock, but he intended to check on everything before he confirmed the time. By their previous reckoning they had not been down in the underground city no more than an hour before the creatures decided to invade, which – when he factored in meeting up with the rest of the team and a few other quick tasks before setting off – meant they probably hadn't been out of the suite more than an hour and a half, tops. Everything should be undisturbed.

Canceling stealth mode, he trotted to the door of the bedroom, then stopped to inspect the living room. Nothing seemed amiss. Lowering his head, he circled the room, searching for any stray scents. Mooney had a motion sensor set up to alert them to unexpected visitors, but they had no idea if it worked when they were in the underground city.

Satisfied that no one had entered the room while they were gone, he shuffled over to the ornate clock on one of the taller book shelves. Just about an hour and forty eight minutes had passed since they'd been out.

"Hmm."

If things were still working they way they had been before, Mooney should have been gone for several _hours_ in underground-city time, but she had only been gone twenty or thirty minutes, which would indicate that the underground city had synced up with the rest of Roanamia. But, if that were true, it would mean it should be over two hours of total time out of the suite since the clock was reset.

Joseph twitched his tail and worked his jaw around a little, then reactivated stealth mode. He teleported back to the side passage that lead to the pump room to stare down the long dark hall.

The distortion started about half way to the door. It was most certainly still there, and it had most certainly changed. He just wasn't sure how. Half closing his eyes, he walked slowly down the hall, paying careful attention to the way dragon magic flowed through the distortion. He stopped as he reached the first crack, the true threshold between the underground city, and the rest of Roanamia.

Out in the mountains, dragon magic mostly flowed in one direction; moving around the edges of the distortion like water. Once he figured out which way the magic was flowing, it was simply a matter of following it to where he wanted to go, as it tended to act as a bridge of sorts between pieces. He still had to explore all of those pieces to see how they were connected, but once he know what chunk went where, it was relatively easy to go with the flow.

This dragon magic was swirling in a circle, like a clogged drain. He knew of a few places that were like this. And he knew of a few creatures that had learned to exploit those difficulties over the years.

"Oh, I bet I know what it is." He muttered to himself then continued, stepping in to the distortion. He trotted to the door, opened it, stepped through, shut it behind him, noted the way the swirling changed direction slightly, then jogged down the hall. A pony with an empty wagon teleported into the pump room ahead as he approached, then moved aside as another pony teleported in on the other end of the room. Oleander waved the second pony through, then gestured to a pony whom had been waiting off to the side. They teleported away simultaneously.

"Oh, hi Joseph." Oleander said as he entered the room and carefully stepped around the chalk scribbles on the floor where Moonstruck had indicated where ponies would be arriving.

"How long was I gone?" He asked.

"I dunno. Five, maybe ten minutes."

"Interesting."

"Are you walking, or teleporting?"

"Still walking."

"Okay, just keep out of the way then." She beamed at him, then waved a pony with an empty wagon forward.

Joseph grunted and nodded. He stuck to the walls of the room, then darted down the stairwell once he reached it. One stairwell, one hall, one direction change of the magical swirling. Another stairwell, another hall, another direction change. Third stairwell, third hall, another change of direction. The freight elevator appeared up ahead, and he sensed a slight ripple.

"That you Joseph?" Olivia called from out of sight. The wagons were too big to hold more than one on the landing at a time, so she was camped out a couple of steps below the top.

"Yep."

"Oh good – it's kinda creepy with the doors open like that and just darkness beyond. I keep hearing things!" She chuckled.

"Heh heh, nope, just me." Joseph chuckled as well.

"Hold up a sec." She said as he stopped in the elevator. A pony with a full wagon appeared at the top of the stairs, waited a beat, then disappeared again.

"Okay, go ahead."

"Cool." He stepped out onto the platform, then hopped up onto the rail. "How long was I gone, by the way?"

"I dunno, five or ten minutes." She furrowed her brow.

" _Interesting_." He mused. Then he opened his wings and lunged off the railing. He flexed his wings a few times to pick up speed, then swept into a shallow dive. When he reached the library, he landed in one of the blown out windows, then made his way downstairs.

"That was fast." Glenda grunted as he ambled back into the new room.

"Oh, Max tell you where I went?"

"Mmm." She nodded as she helped another pegasus arrange books in a neat stack. "Is the time distortion still working in our favor?"

"Yes indeed. Even better, I'd say."

"That's good to hear – I have no idea how we're going to clear all of this out in a day!"

"I don't either, but at least there's plenty of help." Joseph shrugged. He moved past her in search of the prince. Not surprisingly he was dealing with some of the larger, heavier and more delicate books.

"Back already?"

"Yeah, I think they tweaked the time distortion so you always pop out when you need to be." Joseph grunted.

Max paused to stare at him. "Don't you mean where?"

"Nope. When." Joseph hesitated, realizing this would probably take a very long time to explain. "Uh, short version is that it won't take very long out there to do what we need to do in here."

"That's enough for me." Max shook his head.

"That's what I figured. Though it's probably not a bad idea for Glenda and I to surface every now and then to make sure no one comes poking around."

"Agreed. Whenever either of you need a break." Max nodded, waving a hoof slightly. "Glenda especially – I know she's tough, but she's so old I worry she'll hurt herself."

"She knows her limits." Joseph shrugged."Well, back at it, I guess."

"I know. But – ah, yes. Thank you."

Joseph was already trotting away in search of smaller, more manageable books.

* * *

Reinforcements arrived a short while after Joseph returned, enough ponies to cover the entire previously secret room of the library. There were far fewer ponies with wagons, but space was limited on the teleportation sites, so it didn't matter much. For hours and hours they pulled books. Ponies ultimately taking shifts as repeated trips up and down the stairs wore on joints and telekenetic abilities. Max had hoped to work tirelessly, fueled by the encouragement he'd been given by the ancients, but he soon found himself fumbling with spells, and growing hungry and thirsty.

He was mildly surprised to see Moonstruck wander in as he was contemplating grabbing a snack. She mentioned something about the harness chafing too much, then tiredly dragged herself over to a shelf to start pulling books. He hadn't noticed earlier, but she had bags under her eyes that could rival his own, and now that he was really paying attention, he could see patches where the ill fitting harness had worn away bits of her coat, and blisters were starting to form. He frowned deeply and fought back a wave of guilt.

"Hey, you should eat something."

Max started and looked down as Lindsey set a brown paper bag on a stool next to him. "I don't think you've stopped once all day."

"No, no I haven't thank you. Perfect timing." He sighed heavily and sat down. The bag contained a bottle of water and a hearty bean and corn patty sandwich. He downed half the bottle of water in one gulp, then set his sights on the sandwich.

"Has Moonstruck eaten?" He asked after a few small bites. He wanted to savor the sandwich, it was one of his favorites.

"I have no idea. I know she brought a bottle of water down with her." Lindsey shrugged. She Inspected his piles of books. Someone would be around to gather them up soon.

"She doesn't strike me as the type to skip meals, if at all possible."

"Yeah." Max nodded slightly. "Actually, has everyone gotten a break at some point?"

"I think so, yeah. Most everyone else is much better at taking breaks." She chuckled. "I think just you and Moonstruck were going non-stop."

"Oh." He ducked his head sheepishly and focused on eating.

He went back to work once he finished his sandwich, feeling at least a little refreshed. He likely needed to sleep, but he didn't dare. He wasn't sure how long they'd been at this, and there were still hundreds of books to move. With the time distortion working out the way it was, he would have plenty of time to sleep later. It was quite possibly the only thought keeping him going.

So he pulled books. And occasionally moved books upstairs himself for a change of pace. And he loaded wagons for a while, and Lindsey or Glenda or Fern or Evee would remind him to take a break every now and then, and he forced himself to keep going as the rest of the ponies set shifts, and rotated out periodically for breaks.

All too soon word spread that they needed to wrap things up. Max found himself suddenly fully awake as panic shot an almost painful bolt of adrenaline into his blood. He hastily cleared the shelf he'd been working on, then picked up as much as he could by himself before trotting out to find someone to help him move the rest, only to find empty shelves all around him.

"What – we got it all?" He asked as he set his stack down next to the other piles still waiting to be taken upstairs.

"Just about." Buster yawned and put a check mark down on a clipboard. "The princess really sped things up."

"What?"

He blinked a few times and gave Max a funny look. "She can pull like, a hundred books at once, you know."

Max lifted his head and looked around, watched as ponies wearily brought in the last few piles, and more ponies started moving them upstairs.

"Right." He murmured. "Where is she now?"

"Uh, asleep in the lobby, I think. She just couldn't go anymore, but we've about got it all cleared, so it's alright." Buster nodded. "Is this the last of yours?"

"Uh, no, I still have a half dozen piles."

"Alright, I'll get someone back there to help you." Buster half turned and began speaking to someone over the nodestone network.

Max glanced back, saw that ponies were already heading to where he'd last been, then started towards the stairs.

"Be right back." He said over his shoulder.

He was surprised by how stiff his joints were as he trotted upstairs, then across the lobby to the corner where they'd set up a few bedrolls for anyone who needed a nap. Moonstruck was sprawled in the middle of them, Joseph standing over her, shaking her shoulder.

"I dun wanna go to school..." she muttered as Max came within earshot.

"C'mon, we're packing up. Glenda's already back at the apartment."

She groaned and rolled onto her belly. The bags under her eyes didn't look any better than before. She grimaced, pulled her ears back, and let out a soft hiss.

"Ugh, my head's still killing me."

"There's still willow bark tea."

She grunted and nodded.

"We have some willow bark in pill form back at headquarters." Max said lamely, suddenly feeling horribly inadequate. "If you'd prefer. Tends to act a little faster."

She shrugged and cracked an eye open to squint at him. "I mostly just want to go back to sleep. How much did you get?"

"Most of it, I think." Max swallowed as a lump began to form in his throat, finding himself at a loss for words. The ancients had said using too much magic caused Moonstruck pain, but he hadn't expected her to be this miserable. Although now that he thought about it, Lindsey had mentioned that she'd been quite ill when she returned to her suite after her daring solstice rescue.

"Good." Moonstruck pulled herself to her hooves, then limped past him, the blisters on her shoulders quite prominent now.

"Hey, c'mon, lets go! Glenda'll have my hide if you try to do any more!" Joseph barked.

"Just gotta go gather up my crystals and stuff." Moonstruck muttered.

The dragon grumbled under his breath, then threw a critical eye at Max. "Glenda also said to make sure you cleared out if you looked half as bad as Mooney. And, you do. So, git!"

Max blinked a few times, then shook his head. "I need to oversee the last of things, and make sure everyone is out."

Joseph growled.

"Only overseeing!" Max insisted, taking a step back. "No more heavy lifting!"

Joseph growled again. "Alright, I'm gonna go do a quick sweep of the library, if you and Mooney aren't in line to teleport away by the time I get back, you're both getting scorched."

"Right, right." Max ducked his head sheepishly. He knew Joseph cared about his friends, but this was clearly all Glendas doing. She was proving rather formidable all and all. He couldn't recall being scolded for not taking very good care of himself before, it was oddly refreshing.

He turned around and trotted back across the room as a few ponies arrived to gather up the bedrolls. Buster and a few others were heading up the stairs as he descended.

"This is the last of it, Moosntruck is just gathering up her crystals." He grunted as they passed.

"Excellent. I'll just do one final sweep." Max nodded. Once at the bottom, he reluctantly spread his wings and fluttered up onto the nearest book case, then into the air. The ceiling was high, and the room broad, leaving him plenty of room to fly over it for one last look to be sure no one was asleep in any out of the way places. He spotted Moonstruck as he crossed over the very center of the room.

"See anyone?" She shouted hoarsely.

"No! I don't see any books either! Ha!" They really had gotten them all!

"Good, come on down and cast a light spell."

He did as told and landed a polite distance from her. She shouted about turning the lights out, just in case they _had_ missed someone, then summoned the crystals to her before canceling their spells, plunging the room into absolute darkness. Max cast his light spell as Moonstruck did the same. She shoved the crystals into a saddlebag. Together they trotted down the silent, empty aisle towards the faint light coming through the door.

By the time they were upstairs, the last of the books had been loaded on the wagons, and Lindsey was waiting for them by the front desk.

"All clear." She said once they came within earshot. Moonstruck gathered up the crystals she'd had illuminating the lobby and stowed them away as well.

Joseph met them on the front steps; he hadn't found anyone either. Max couldn't imagine anyone wanting to stick around here. Well, aside from Geode whom had paid them a visit earlier. She couldn't normally make the trip with her bad leg, but with the teleportation network set up, it was a simple matter of saying the magic words.

He stood and stared back at the library as they waited in line to teleport out. Technically he could just fly out, but he wanted to be absolutely sure they weren't leaving anyone behind, which meant being the last one to leave.

"Go ahead, I've gotta collect the nodestone." Moonstruck yawned a few minutes later, as the last of the ponies teleported off.

"Eh? Right." He hesitated. "I'll stay with you."

"It's alright, it only takes a second." She shuffled over to the very center of the courtyard and picked up a tiny crystal. She shoved it in the little velvet pouch she always wore around her neck. The strap was looking a little frayed.

"See?"

He shook his head, then called up the nodestone above as soon as Olivia gave him the all clear. The next moment he was standing on the top of the access stairs. Moonstruck and Joseph teleported in a few moments later. Moonstruck picked up the crystal she'd left there as Joseph and Olivia teleported to the pump room.

"C'mon." Moonstruck nudged him. "The creatures... souls want their town back."

Max gave her an odd look, then focused on the streets below. The light was fading, the moss was growing more intense, and there was movement in the shadows. His gaze fell upon a lone creature standing among the wrack and ruin of the underground city. It was staring back. He swallowed hard.

"Right."

They teleported away.

* * *

A/N: Save ALL the books!


	34. Chapter 33

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Moonstruck spent most of the rest of the day asleep, and it was generally agreed upon that no one was up to heading back to headquarters after nightfall. Thankfully she was too exhausted to dream, so the extra sleep wasn't an issue. In the morning Max contacted her over the nodestone network to inform her their agents in Maneas Tirith had been able to confirm Lucena was in the city. The turtle speed of the airships meant that even if she turned around and came back immediately, she wouldn't get to Bridle-Dur until tomorrow morning, giving them a unique window of opportunity. Unfortunately, no one could figure out what to do with it. There just wasn't much they _could_ do in broad daylight, and Max did still have official duties to attend to, so he wouldn't be available until the evening anyway.

Ultimately it was decided it was probably best for Moonstruck to remain in her suite, in case one of the baronesses in charge decided to drop in after she'd been left to her own devices yesterday. So she teleported down briefly to pick up another batch of necklaces, and a few books Wenchell set aside for her as they seemed promising.

She enchanted the necklaces as far as she could without their intended wearer present, and skimmed through the books whenever she took a break. Oddly enough, the baronesses _did_ send for her around lunch time. Moonstruck soon found herself in a small parlor somewhere off the main audience chamber with three mares; two elderly, and one likely only a few years older than herself. The parlor looked like it was used for more informal meetings, as it still possessed a good sized table and enough room overall for a dozen ponies, but had an overabundance of doilies, overstuffed velvet stools to sit on, ornate lamps, and books that were likely purely for decoration.

"We're terribly sorry, Your Grace! We completely forgot about you yesterday!" Said the first baroness to enter the room, one Trillian von Oatfield. Apparently her family controlled a good sized chunk of land out near the Crystal Cut Valley to the northwest of Bridle-Dur, at the edge of the foothills of the Crystal Cut Mountains. That placed her domain at least half in Roanham, which was very much a wasteland.

"That's quite alright." Moonstruck made the puppet smile sweetly. Lucena wasn't here, but she had an inkling wandering the tower without the puppet would raise too many eyebrows.

"Her Majesty left us with quite a bit of work to do in her stead, and I'm afraid your needs got lost in the shuffle of meetings and paperwork." Said the second mare. Moonstruck had only met her in passing, she was Olga of Quince and the youngest of the set. Not a baron exactly, but a representative of a powerful family that was trying to gather up a little more clout.

"I don't mind. the Queen has very important work, and I don't want to be a bother. As her trusted surrogates, I expected no different than you." She dipped the puppets head a tad, then tilted its muzzle back up in a chipper smile. "But I am grateful for a bit of company!"

The old mares chattered a bit among themselves.

"So humble!"

"Such delicate manners!"

"It's good to see the outside world hasn't crumbled into brutish shambles." The eldest of the three wheezed. She was Lady Delores Dunn. Moonstruck was not certain what region her family controlled, but she seemed to be one of Lucenas favorites, since she was at every party in the VIP section – often asleep in the corner after a few drinks.

"From what Her Majesty has said, it sounded like other kingdoms were devolving into petty fifedoms where strong unicorns stood hoof to hoof with alicorns, and even earth and pegasus ponies ruled over themselves." She huffed. "Everyone mingling willy nilly. Even having _foals_ together."

She sniffed and seemed for a moment that she would spit. Thankfully she did not. "Dirty half breeds muddying up our bloodlines!"

Moonstruck sighed quietly to herself. She hadn't expected this to be a pleasant experience. Thankfully she'd already gotten another couple dozen necklaces ready, and the books did seem to have a lot of useful spells. She made a mental note to see if she could bug Max into getting a bunch of pizzas for the jewelry making crew later. They'd been doing amazing work. Even the newbies were turning out high quality necklaces.

"But Duchess Angelina is an alicorns alicorn." Delores continued, beaming at her with mostly empty gums. "A proper ruler, though not as powerful as Her Majesty, of course. Nevertheless, a proper baroness! Unlike we lot."

"Now now, Delores, you know we can't all be alicorns." Trillian tutted gently. "Can't have that amount of power and authority being common, now do we?"

Delores grumbled, but Olga nodded.

"She's right. Powerful unicorns are still important! Even if we'll never achieve the true majesty of alicorns, we can still serve them in so many ways that others can't."

"Good allies, are good allies." Moonstruck piped. "It matters little what tribe they belong to. I find many of your, er, _social arrangements_ strange."

"Such a gentle, naive child." Delores chuckled. "You are still quite young, I feel, but some day you will learn. You will learn the true order of things."

Thankfully lunch was brought in, effectively interrupting Delores's line of thought. They ate, and chatted of more mundane, and considerably less offensive things, then played a few rounds of cards once the table was cleared. They were better players than Lucena by a long shot, so Moonstruck didn't have to bend over backwards to avoid winning too much. She didn't even really feel like beating them, she just wanted to get back up to the apartment to work on stuff, and generally be in better company.

"So," Olga said after they had been playing for a while, "has Lucena spoken to you about retiring?"

Moonstruck blinked a few times. She'd been wondering when they'd get to the _real_ reason they'd invited her to lunch.

"No, not really. She's mentioned grooming Prince Maximus to replace her a few times, but if she has a timeframe in mind, she hasn't told me."

"Told you." Trillian grunted without looking up from her cards as Olga frowned. "Lucena's retirement is a long way off. Possibly after we've all passed."

"She's probably waiting for Eira to kick the bucket." Delores chuckled, finally selecting a card and placing it face up on the discard pile. They were playing rummy. "You all know she wants to avoid having a unicorn as queen-consort, and she certainly wouldn't allow a Frostgard to join the main line, much less assume the throne."

"Well, who else would marry the prince then? Certainly not one of us. Like it or not, Eira's in the best position to be the next queen, provided Her Majesty steps down while Eira's still of foal-bearing age." Olga sniffed haughtily.

"She's sitting right across from you!" Delores cackled.

Moonstruck started and fought back a yelp. "Goodness! That's unlikely!"

"I don't know... Delores, alicorn or not, Duchess Angelina is..." Trillian made a face and glanced over. "No offense, Your Grace, it really isn't _you_ , it's that the Queen does not favor her son. I don't feel she would ever marry him off. Or allow him to marry at all."

"Uh... I'm really not sure how I feel about any of it, actually!" Moonstruck chuckled nervously.

"No, she wants someone she can trust to pass the crown to." Delores insisted. "We know she can't trust Eira, and Maximus is... well Maximus. He can certainly deal with the day to day workings, but if she wants someone to maintain control, Duchess Angelina has the power to do so. And she can wait until Eira is dead and gone to do it, because _Duchess Angelina_ would still be around, and in her prime!"

"She doesn't really need to _wait around_ for Eiras demise." Trillian muttered darkly.

"But – no offense, Your Grace – Duchess Angelina is an _outsider_!" Olga sighed irately. "You know Her Majesty would want to keep the bloodline as pure as she could! No other branch of the Rosegard family has produced a unicorn on Eiras level in over three hundred years! Weren't you just complaining about sullied bloodlines?"

Moonstruck was amazed they were having this conversation while she was in the room.

"Yes! Eira would sully the bloodline by being a unicorn, _and_ a Frostgard!" Delores barked. "You only support her as Queen Consort because your family controls the lands just southwest of Maredor. If Eira rises to power, you stand to benefit from it greatly."

"Of course!" Olga sneered. "But you stand to gain nothing if Duchess Angelina becomes the queen consort!"

"I'll be long dead by then, so I hardly care." Delores quipped. "My family line is dead. I'm the last of the Dunns of Dunnlund and you know it. Dunnlund itself has been a waste for centuries. I'd be happy to know the crowns are on the brows of alicorns, or will be, at least."

"Lucena already sullied the bloodline by having Maximus with Magmanus." Trillian sighed, setting her cards face down on the table. Delores and Olga looked over at her in shock.

"Dragon or not, he's not Roanamian royalty. If Lucena were to choose Duchess Angelina as queen-consort, any offspring she may have with Maximus would be only one quarter Rosegard. If the queen ever had any intention of stepping down, Maximus and Eira would have been betrothed while they were still foals, as her dalliance with the dragon would mean an injection of fresh blood, and it would be wise to then bring a powerful, related unicorn back into the fold to maintain the bloodline."

She paused and worked her jaw around. "And, we're all assuming Maximus is capable of fathering foals. A hybrid such as himself is very likely sterile. It's as I said, she has no intention of giving up the throne any time remotely soon."

"I... had not considered that." Olga said slowly.

"It would have been so much easier had he been born a mare." Delores sighed heavily. "Plenty of stallions out there from good bloodlines, even if they're not powerful themselves. And Roanamia has always done better under a queen, than a king."

They nodded slowly.

Delores reached over and patted the puppet hand with one hoof. "Sorry kid, I was rootin' for you."

"It's quite alright." Moonstruck forced a smile. Even the puppet didn't seem to want to do it.

Thankfully they changed the subject somewhat to the romantic/power dynamics of various other ponies, most of whom she either did not know, or had only met once or twice. It seemed to take ages for them to decide they'd best get back to whatever it was Lucena had them doing. Once free, she made her way back up to the apartment, more than ready to ditch the puppet and put some fresh ointment on her various blisters. She'd put a towel down under the puppets harness, but it did eventually start to bother her. It wasn't that the weight of the loaded wagon was too much for her yesterday (far from it), it was that the harness was too small. An ill fitting harness will rub blisters every time, no matter how light the load is.

Reaching her door, she unlocked it, walked through, and locked it again in one smooth magical motion before deactivating her various spells.

"Welcome back." Glenda yawned. She was stretched out on the sofa. Joseph was gone, possibly off hunting.

"Ugh, is everypony here as irritating as equinely possible?" Moonstruck grumbled as she lifted the puppet from her back and continued to her bedroom door. "You would not believe the conversation I just had to sit through."

"Worse than every other?" Glenda gave her a bemused look.

Moonstruck paused in her doorway. "Well... it's not typically something you'd discuss while the subject of the discussion is sitting in the room with you and you're supposed to be interacting with her."

"Oh." Glenda furrowed her brow. "I don't... think I follow."

Moonstruck stowed the puppet away then collected the ointment from the bathroom so that she could start putting it on the more inflamed blisters. She leaned against her doorframe to do so.

"Apparently Roanamian royalty like to speculate about who's gonna be the queen-consort, and I somehow got my name thrown in the hat."

Glenda sat up a little straighter. "What!?"

"I know, right?" Moonstruck rolled her eyes and continued applying ointment on her shoulders.

"Anyway, they decided to argue about it while we were playing cards."

Glenda grimaced. "That is pretty terrible."

"The one baroness was right though; Lucena isn't going to give up the throne. And even if she does, you know whoever she chooses as the next queen will be a puppet at best. We know she'd never let Max choose for himself."

"Yes." Glenda nodded. "But she won't get to choose."

"Nope! Max can have this mess alllllll to himself." Moonstruck chortled and waved a hoof to indicate the entire city.

Glenda chuckled. "It's not like he's doing it alone. He has Lindsey, and Evee, and Fern, and Wenchell. They're all smart and resourceful. And I'm sure you'll stick around for a while once everything's over."

"Yeah, if we manage to survive everything." She shrugged. "What are you going to do?"

"I may stay. The clan likely thinks me dead. I have nothing to go back to out there." Glenda frowned thoughtfully. "Although I don't know what I'd do here."

"I'm sure Max will give you an embarrassingly nice penthouse." Moonstruck chuckled. "Or you can come back with me, if you want. Joseph can come too, though I don't think he will. I've gotta go south to Canterlot to let them know what happened, and Sarah's in Ponyville last I knew – it's only a short flight from Canterlot."

"I'm going home once rebuilding gets going, and you're both welcome to come with, if you want. I would also probably set you up in an embarrassingly nice penthouse." She grinned. "You'd like Trot."

Glenda blinked a few times then stared out the window. "It seems I have a few options."

"Yup. Though we were taking you with us before all of this."

"Yes, but that was... well, I don't think I actually had an option then. I couldn't stay in the city, could I?" She chuckled.

"True. And I wasn't about to _leave you_ in the city, especially after I got us all into this mess."

"I'm glad you did." Glenda said softly, looking over to meet Moonstrucks gaze. "I'm glad you bumbled into this. Even if it all fails, I'm grateful to have been part of it."

Moonstruck lifted hear head a little. She'd known Glenda and Joseph didn't really resent her for all of this – especially since they had managed to make the best of it, but she hadn't expected either of them to be _grateful_. She was still a little annoyed with herself over her series of missteps.

"You're welcome?" She put the cap back on the ointment. "Wasn't really what I had in mind..."

Glenda smiled and shook her head.

Moonstruck retreated to her desk to finish up laying down the preliminary spells on the batch of necklaces and earrings she had. Then she started going through the books. Joseph returned after a couple of hours, a bit sour after only finding a few largeish rodents to eat.

"Takes way too much effort to catch 'em." He groused from the other room. "Considering how much meat is on 'em."

"I'm familiar."

"I don't think I got all of the sheep. And I haven't found any evidence they died off, or something else got 'em."

Moonstruck let their conversation fade into the background as she jotted down a spell that provided a nifty work-around for her sisters anti-teleportation fields. It wasn't what she was looking for, but she was not foolish enough to let a little trick like this get away. When she finished, she stared at her short stack of notes and spells, realizing that she had more prank spells than espionage spells, although there was a fair amount of overlap between the two. She pursed her lips then shrugged. She'd mostly been getting by on spells she'd used largely for pranks before (with a few modifications here and there), she couldn't think of a reason to stop now. Some of those would probably be great for general chaos, if the timing was right, and enough ponies in the Historical Society could cast them.

Before she knew it, Glenda was calling her for dinner. After that, they were off to headquarters. Thankfully Max hadn't felt compelled to call a follow-up meeting after the madness in the underground city, so she was able to get the nodestones assigned to their intended owners and finish off all the spells without any interruptions. Joseph and Glenda took the newest batch of nodestone equipped ponies on a quick training run, while Moonstruck ducked back to return the books Wenchell had sent up for her, and sift through a few new ones.

"Oh, good timing. Could you possibly pry Max away from his pile?" Lindsey asked as Moonstruck walked into the warehouse full of haphazardly stacked books. Shelves were still being brought in, and only a tiny fraction of the collection had been organized thus far. Most ponies were too busy looking for anything useful to spend a lot of time sorting and shelving, though it did look like at least a few ponies were devoted solely to organizing everything.

"Uh, sure, I guess. Where do you want these?" Moonstruck pulled her books out of her saddlebags.

"On that table over there. The shelvers'll get 'em" Lindsey inclined her snout to a folding table against the left hoof wall. It had several good sized stacks of books on it.

"Cool. Where is he?" Moonstruck started towards the table.

"The back corner – I can take you. I don't think he's stopped reading since he got here earlier, and I'm kinda worried he took books with him in to work." Lindsey grimaced.

Moonstruck set her books on the table then turned to give Lindsey an odd look. "I just had books with me in the tower so..."

"Yeah, but you're by yourself up there. Max has ponies coming and going from his offices all day. If he forgot to put them away, or got too engrossed in reading, or left them in a place other ponies have easy access to..."

"Right." Moonstruck sighed. "What's he reading?"

"I don't know. He said yesterday he was gonna take a peek at the history books, and basically hasn't surfaced since." Lindsey shook her head.

Moonstruck chuckled softly. He needed to be looking for spells, not digging through history books. Hopefully he at least found something useful in everything he was reading.

They reached the furthest corner of the room, finding Max seated at a low table with several tall stacks of books round him, and a large floor lamp to provide extra illumination. A small spread of neatly arranged notes on the table looked promising. He didn't look up as they approached, just absently chewed on a pencil eraser as he turned a page.

"Find something good?" Moonstruck asked when they came to a stop.

"Hmm? Oh yes, a rather fascinating account of a great flood some centuries ago that left the city under several feet of water. It seems that the low lying areas had been built up before Mothers reign, but after repeated flooding the structures were plowed down and the basins were left as flood control holding ponds. I'd only seen depictions of the city after the ponds were restored, and had assumed they'd always been there." He didn't look up from the book, and managed to enunciate surprisingly well around the pencil.

That information was _kind of_ useful, but not for the immediate, Moonstruck felt.

"Anything more useful for what we're doing _now_?"

He blinked a few times then looked over, letting the pencil drop from his mouth.

"Uh... well, I suppose it would depend on what you'd _consider_ useful."

"Oh geeze." Lindsey groaned.

"Hidden weapon caches, super secret tunnels through the mountains, magic reset buttons, maps to buried treasure, an unguarded source of chocolate?" Moonstruck rattled off before he could launch in to what was likely a lengthy story.

"Um, none of those." He looked a little crestfallen, then he brightened. "But, I do know Princess Nadia was indeed a pegasus. And that... er... the circumstances around her death seem to indicate Mother had a hoof in it."

He selected a book out of one of his piles, flipped to about a quarter of the way in, then held it up. Sure enough, a completely pristine image of Princess Nadia graced the pages. She had been a tall, lean, bright pink pegasus with black wings, mane and tail. She wore a delicate golden crown embellished with red roses. Like Lucena she had yellow eyes. Unlike every image of Lucena Moonstruck had seen, she was smiling. The facing page had a detail of her cutie mark. It was of a winged golden crown encircled by red roses.

"The official reports say it was a hiking accident, but... well no one believed it." Max frowned.

"She could fly." Moonstruck nodded.

"Exactly." He cleared his throat. "From what I've been able to piece together, it was not long after my grandparents retired. While Nadia and Mother had been sharing royal duties since my grandparents abdicated the throne, Nadia had not yet been officially crowned queen. It seems, back in those days, the family had more say on who ruled than they do now – which probably explains why Mother eliminated much of it." He grimaced.

"Anyway, while they supported Nadias ascension to the throne, they were uneasy with a pegasus as the supreme ruler of Roanamia – in fact, _no_ pegasus had ever worn the crown before. But, the family also seemed to agree that Mother's temperament and lack of royal cutie mark made her unfit to rule. So, it was generally agreed upon that they should co-rule for a time to get the other houses used to the idea of a pegasus queen."

He flipped through to another illustration a few pages later. It showed Nadia on one page, serenely holding up a golden chalice, facing Lucena, whom was on the opposite page holding up a golden halberd. Between them was a depiction of the massive ruby carved into a rose blossom that graced the throne.

"Publicly this seemed to work out quite well, Nadia was beloved by common and noblepony alike. Privately... well mostly I've only been able to find rumors."

"Mother has... well, her dementia has been getting worse these past few years, but she used to be considered a brilliant, albeit emotionally unstable tactician." He frowned. "It seems while Nadia was alive she acted as a sort of anchor and compass, keeping her grounded and on track. But they were not without conflict."

He set the book down and selected another one, opening it up to an illustration of Lucena in mourning attire. "No one knows what led up to it, but they got into a heated argument one summers day when they were at the Rosegard's mountain _chalet_. The guards on duty at the time said they saw Nadia take off first, followed quickly by Mother. The guards did not follow."

"Several hours later Mother came back in such distress she couldn't speak, and she cried non-stop for days after. Nadias body was found a day or so later. She'd been crushed by a landslide. There was some evidence that their argument had turned arcane. Mother insisted it was an accident."

Moonstruck stared off into space, trying to think of a way to accidentally crush a nimble pegasus under a landslide.

"I'm guessing she zapped the mountain, assuming Nadia would dodge, and hit Nadia instead and the landslide was sort of a side effect. Or Nadia did dodge, but the mountain came down so fast she didn't have time to clear the rocks."

"That is what ponies at the time assumed." Max nodded sadly. "Though she had singed fur, so she got a piece of it, at least." He flipped to another page, this one depicting an elderly red roan unicorn, and a red and black alicorn stallion that resembled Max somewhat. A few pages later was a depiction of Lucenas coronation.

"No one was able to locate the old king and queen, so once Mother regained her senses, she was crowned Queen." Max let out a heavy sigh. "The rumors that Mother had assassinated Nadia persisted for a time after – and really, even if it was genuinely an accident, she benefited greatly from it. And she seemed to have more supporters than much of the rest of the family realized, which made her transition into power very smooth for her, as a fiercely loyal, dragon-worshipping cult emerged out of the wood-works just after her coronation."

Moonstruck shifted her weight, the wheels in her mind turning slowly and creakily.

"I'll admit this is fascinating, but it doesn't have much to do with now." Lindsey groaned.

"Wait, what's the timeline here? When was Starswirl and everyone in the country?"

"Oh, that was about five years prior." Max tilted his head to the side. "Nadia and Mother had only been in charge of the country for two years, at that point. I'm not sure when the old king and queen actually passed the torch, much less left the country. The historians didn't seem to know when they left either, but they do mention that Queen Aurora – who was a unicorn – was very, very old, and had more or less retired ten or fifteen years earlier. As an alicorn, King Viktor could rule indefinitely, but it was clear he didn't want to. The historians suspected that he intended to spend the last of Grandmothers days with her, though no one knew where, exactly. There was never a formal announcement of Grandmothers passing, so it was assumed they had left the country, and possibly civilization."

"Huh." Moonstruck felt a few things click, but a few other things refused to line up.

"So... Lucena had probably been planning _something_. We know she stole Professor Buttonbeau's spell, and was pretty keen on getting Starswirl and Celestia and everyone out of the country as soon as she could."

"Yes." Max nodded, then closed the book before setting it down. "I don't know. Knowing her... I really can't say whether or not she intentionally killed her sister."

He stared at his stacks of books for a moment. "But I can say she had been scheming to wrench the crown from her. Perhaps she never intended to harm Nadia in the process."

"I don't see that working out the way she thought it would work out." Moonstruck lifted her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes.

"Neither do I."

"I still don't see how this is relevant." Lindsey muttered.

"Know thy enemy." Moonstruck declared.

"Okay?" Lindsey furrowed her brow.

Moonstruck rolled her eyes, the last few cogs starting to click into place. "What's with all the cutie marks?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, everypony should have a cutie mark. Almost nopony does. That's seriously weird. Why? It's a side effect of the shield. Who put up the shield? Lucena. Why? To strip everyone of their destinies – _even she and her sisters._ "

Lindsey blinked a few times and straightened up out of the bored slouch she'd slumped in to.

"Wait so... the shield was meant for Nadia?"

"Maybe at first. I bet Lucena saw what the shield did and figured she could use that to change her destiny. Either swap cutie marks with Nadia, or strip Nadia of hers. No cutie mark, no crown."

Lindseys eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head.

"Then the accident happened." Max nodded slowly, sitting up to make air quotes around _accident_ with his hooves. "So she didn't need the shield. At least, not until later. I can't fathom why she'd use that particular spell, from what you two have said about it."

"Well, it _is_ self sustaining." Moonstruck shrugged. "And she clearly wanted the side effects to happen. I'm guessing she didn't think it would effect her as well."

"How could she not?" Lindsey squinted.

"If she seriously believes all of the bull hokey she spews about alicorns, she probably doesn't know stuff like this will eventually catch up to her." Moonstruck rolled her eyes.

"Okay, this is actually kind of useful in an abstract kinda way." Lindsey conceded. "Did those books have any good spells in them?" She looked up at Moonstruck, probably desperate to change the subject.

"Not what I was looking for, but yes. A lot of fun chaos-inducing things that we can probably use at some point or another." Moonstruck grinned.

"Chaos-inducing?" Max frowned.

"For the enemy. _We'll_ know what's going on." Moonstruck let out a low and evil chuckle. It was her pranking chuckle, reserved for especially good practical jokes. She quieted down as she realized the others were staring at her awkwardly.

"Anyway, is there any way to arrange a pizza party for the jewelry makers? They've been doing really amazing work."

Max blinked a few times. "I... um... yes, I can probably shake some funds loose. Why a pizza party?"

Moonstruck shrugged. "It's just a nice thing to do, and kind of customary."

"Pizza parties are customary?" Lindsey made a face.

"Yeah! Usually you provide pizza for ponies who help you move house, or if it's a volunteer group for an event – stuff like that."

"Huh." Lindsey and Max exchanged glances. "Never would have guessed that one."

"Pizza is a form of currency." Moonstruck nodded solemnly. "Also donuts."

"Let me write that down." Max muttered, fumbling for a piece of paper and the pencil he'd dropped.

Moonstruck opened her mouth to tell him she was joking (sort of), but decided against it.

"Okay, noted." Max nodded then set the paper down with the rest of his notes.

"Now, you didn't take any books with you to work, did you?" Lindsey asked, fixing Max with a stern glare.

"Of course not!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Not even one of the smaller books?"

"No!"

She stared for a few moments more. "Hmm. Well, you're needed in the armory. Buster thinks he might be able to stretch our gunpowder supply a little further than previously thought."

"Oh really? Well, we haven't exactly been able to locate any more cannonballs..." Max got to his hooves then hesitated. "Ah, are you accompanying us, Princess?"

"Nah, I'm digging through books." Moonstruck shook her head. "You have fun."

He shrugged, then followed Lindsey out of his corner. Moonstruck spun around and headed back through the room in search of Wenchell, whom presumably had more books set aside for her. He spotted her before she spotted him, and hurried over with a thick tome, grinning from ear to ear.

"I think I found it!"

She trotted over to meet him as he set the book down on the nearest table and opened it to a bookmarked page. "Magical detection spells!"

"Yes!" Moonstruck crowed. She flicked her eyes over the page, it was a standard spell, something still in use in the outside world. She needed a bigger one. A few pages later she found it. And going by the formulas she could easily add in her stealth spells to make it nigh-undetectable as well. She bookmarked the page then snapped the book shut.

"I'm gonna need a big crystal and someone to confirm my findings!"

"What, now?"

"Yeah, I'll get the crystal. I just need a pegasus with a nodestone to come with me." She spun and started towards the exit.

" _N_ _ow_?"

"Yep. Meet me in the loading docks in, I dunno thirty minutes." Moonstruck broke off into a canter once outside their makeshift library. She glanced back in time to watch Wenchell gape at her, then spin and gallop off in the opposite direction.

She hurried back down the corridor then took a left at the next intersection, then another left at the intersection after that. Reaching the door to the crystal room, she magicked it open and slid inside. It would take a good sized crystal to get a read on the entire country, but she was loathe to go undo all of her spells on the hub crystals. The next size down would have to do. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember what crate the largest crystals were hiding in.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" A squeaky voice asked after a few minutes.

Moonstruck lifted her head out of the crate she'd been searching through and looked over her shoulder to see a very small buckskin unicorn foal seated in the center of the room. She was so tiny Moonstruck was surprised she could walk, much less talk.

"A big crystal. Do your parents know you're here?"

"I wandered away from the group!" The little filly beamed with pride.

"I can see that." Moonstruck spotted the crate she wanted out of the corner of her eye, recognizing some of the old Roanamian writing printed on the side. She kept one eye on the foal as she sidled over to the crate.

"Are you really an alicorn?" The foal asked.

"Last I checked." Moonstruck grunted, lifting the lid off the crate. A crystal almost a foot in diameter, but about half as tall was resting inside. It looked like it had been cut at some point, but whomever had been carving it had abandoned the project half way, leaving it with a number of interesting facets emerging from uncut crystal."

"You sure have a lot of crystals!" The foal got to her hooves and puttered over to the nearest box. She reared up to look inside. "So pretty!"

"They're not mine, but yes. There are a lot."

"Do you have _permission_ to touch them?" The way she said _permission_ made Moonstruck think this was a new concept to the little filly.

"Yes."

"Momma says alicorns are all crazy, but you seem nice."

"I'm crazy too, just in a different direction." Moonstruck set the crystal on the low table in the middle of the room, then opened up the book she'd brought with her. She summoned a few sheaves of paper and a pencil from her office elsewhere in the warehouse and began jotting down the spell and accompanying equations she'd need to tweak the magical detection spell to suit her needs.

"Oooooh."

The filly pulled a crystal out of the box she was inspecting and set it on the floor between her hooves. Moonstruck was a little afraid she'd swallow it, as she was at that age, but she seemed more interested in staring fixedly at it. Moonstruck frowned and continued writing, reluctantly flicking her gaze over every so often to make sure the filly didn't hurt herself somehow. Hopefully her parents or sitter would be around shortly to collect her.

"Almost!" The filly hissed, just as Moonstruck was sure she was fine on her own down there. She jerked her head up to see the foal sprawled on her belly, glaring at the crystal which was a few inches in front of her dainty snout.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Make it glow!" She grumbled. "I can _almost_ do it. There's an _almost_ light in there, but I can't get it to come out!"

Moonstruck blinked a few times, then shuffled over to the foal. She crouched down and squinted at the crystal. It was a fairly ordinary chunk of clear quartz about three inches long, and an inch in diameter.

"Can you read yet?"

"No."

"Okay, here's a fun trick then." Moonstruck nudged the crystal into a standing position on its flattest edge. "Close your eyes and try to sense the crystal."

The foal closed her eyes and scrunched her face up into a scowl. "Okay."

"Can you sense the crystal?"

"Yes."

" _Can you_?"

"I... don't know... what am I supposed to feel?"

"You said there was an _almost_ light, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Try to find it again, but in your head."

"Like imagining things?"

"Kind of, but deeper. Until you can feel it in your bones."

"Hmmmm..." She tapped her hooves on the floor and twitched her tail. At first Moonstruck was convinced she was too fidgety for this kind of spellcasting, but after a few moments the foal slowed her breathing and relaxed her expression. She lifted her eyebrows.

"I think... I think I found it."

"Okay, now... to make it glow, you have to do more than tell it to glow, you have to give it the power to glow." Moonstruck kept her eyes on the crystal. "So hold on to that feeling in your bones and push at it, let the power flow through you, and into the crystal."

She scowled again, but her breath remained calm, and her hooves still. After a few seconds the crystal began to glow faintly.

"Am I doing it?"

"Take a look!"

The foal opened her eyes, saw the glowing crystal then let out an excited squeal. Naturally the crystal stopped glowing as soon as she broke her concentration.

"I did it! I did it!" She bounced to her hooves and began bounding around the room. "I did iiiiiiit!"

"Good job! A lotta ponies your age don't have the attention span to do that!" Moonstruck laughed. She sidled back over to the table to finish up her spell-tinkering. The foal, meanwhile, zipped around the room until she was out of breath. Then she tried making the crystal glow again. The first few attempts were unsuccessful, but as she calmed down, and caught her breath, she was able to repeat her magical feat to great delight.

Just as Moonstruck had put the finishing touches on the spell, she heard voices out in the hallway. A few seconds later a pair of mares trotted past, then backpedaled.

"Hope! There you are we've been looking all over for you!" Said a buckskin pegasus whom the filly was a spitting image of, aside from her tribe. She hurried in to the room with a harried looking blue roan earth pony trotting behind.

"Momma! Momma! Look what I can do!" The filly – Hope – squealed. She whirled around, pointed her horn at a loose crystal and stuck her tongue out. The crystal began to glow after only a second or so.

"Hey, you're getting faster!" Moonstruck quipped, tucking her notes into the book and closing it.

She glanced up at the foals mother, surprised to see her in complete shock, her expression seemed more afraid than surprised.

"Uh... Hope's Mom?" Moonstruck asked, leaning over and waving a hoof over the fillies head.

"I... that's amazing sweetie!" The mare blurted, sniffling a little and wiping one eye. "I'm so proud!"

"Your dad will be so impressed!" The earth pony added.

"Yeah!" Hope giggled and continued bouncing. "I can't wait to show him!"

Moonstruck watched the mares exchange glances. She really wanted to ask, but also really needed to get moving.

"Anyway, great timing! I have to run." She cleared her throat and started towards the door.

"Don't wander away from the group anymore, eh kid?"

"No promises!" She grinned.

Hope was going to be a complete menace when she was older, Moonstruck knew.

"Y-your Highness!" The earth pony stammered, apparently only just now realizing Moonstruck was in the room. She dropped into a low bow, the pegasus following suit. Hopes mother hooked a foreleg around the filly as she bounced past then nudged her down too.

Moonstruck let out a sigh. "You really don't need to bow."

"Of course Your Highness." The mares stood up but kept their eyes downcast.

"It's okay Momma, she's crazy, but also nice." Hope reassured, patting her mother on the knee. "She showed me how to make the crystal glow!"

The mare blanched. "Uh... she-she's not crazy sweetie! I – I'm so sorry, foals say - "

"It's fine. I don't disagree." Moonstruck shook her head. "Really, though I have to go." She held up the now enchanted crystal then stuffed it in a saddlebag.

"Can I come?" Hope asked.

"Nope, you'll need wings for this one, and it's gotta be past your bed time."

"Awwww! Not you too! I don't wanna go to sleep! Nevermind Momma, she's just plain old crazy!" The filly scowled up at her.

"Hope!" The mare paled even further.

Moonstruck stuck her tongue out at the filly. She giggled and replied in kind.

Chuckling to herself, she shuffled out the door then started off down the hall at a trot. Apparently word had spread that she was a princess, but not one of the super laid back ones. Any other time she would have stalled for a few minutes to find out what was up with the apprehension around Hope using magic back there, but she really wanted to get this reading. So much of their plans revolved around knowing just how much ambient magic they had to work with.

"Oh, there she is." Wenchell said as Moonstruck trotted out onto the loading docks. "Thought we might have to go looking for you."

"Yeah, ended up babysitting for a little while. Hi Evee." Moonstruck said as she came to a stop.

"Hello. Babysitting?" She lifted a brow.

Moonstruck explained the situation.

"Oh _that_ foal. Yes, I am familiar." Evee chuckled. "She's a hoof-full. The daycare ponies can barely keep her contained."

"I'm a little surprised she can use magic so young." Wenchell furrowed his brow. "Or at all. Her dad's a dud."

"Oh, _that's_ why all of the awkwardness!"

"Yeah, most unicorns with a non-unicorn parent are duds." Wenchell nodded. "A dud and a pegasus usually have either a pegasus or an Earth pony."

"Not out there." Moonstruck waved vaguely. "Anyway, lets roll!"

"Right, where we headed?" Evee asked.

"Crystal Creek. It'd work best from the center of the country, but it'd take hours to fly out there. The edge of town will have to do."

"Right." Evee said more hesitantly. "You sure it's a good idea to do it out in the open?"

"We're gonna be in stealth mode." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "Speaking of, activate it now and I'll teleport us out there."

"Alright." Evee winced, then did as told.

Once they were both safely hidden, Moonstruck called up the nodestone in the park in Crystal Creek and teleported to it. They took wing, flying out over the farthest suburb of the city to the edge of the plains. A few scattered farms were below, with even fewer lights in windows to mirror the spattering of brighter stars visible through the smog and distortion. Moonstruck contemplated going out even further but decided against it. Instead they located an updraft and swept into a vast spiral to make their way up.

"It's so weird to be flying outside." Evee murmured after a few rotations.

Moonstruck glanced over at her. "You haven't gone exploring yet?"

"No."

"You totally can now." Moonstruck frowned. "I was thinking once we had a good amount of pegasus equipped with nodestones we can get 'em outside and flying around in open air. I know a lot of them were born in the city and haven't spent much time above ground."

"Yeah, was thinking that too." She nodded slightly.

They swept through another circuit.

"You okay?" Moonstruck asked.

Evee started. "Yeah! Yeah. Just... memories."

Moonstruck grunted, and said no more. They continued circling until they reached approximately two thousand feet. Above the height of the distant tower, but still well below the shield, and the distortion near it.

"This isn't going to draw a lot of attention to us, is it?" Evee asked as hey tightened their circle and made ready to hover for a little bit.

"Not unless I messed up the math." Moonstruck threw her a deranged grin. She pulled the crystal out of her saddlebag and floated it in front of herself. She'd already laid in the spells, she simply needed to feed more power into it, and activate them. She pulled into a hover (which was difficult with such large wings), and moved the crystal to about ten feet away. Evee did the same and placed herself about teen feet from the crystal opposite to Moonstruck.

"Okay, lets see what we get here." Moonstruck fed power to the crystal and activated the spell. "Should take a few seconds to get going, then a few minutes to collect the data. We can circle while it collects."

Evee nodded. The crystal glowed yellow when it was ready to go. Moonstruck stopped feeding power to it and simply held it in place as she swept out of her hover and into a lazy circuit around the crystal, watching it gradually change color as Evee mirrored her. It shifted through the color spectrum, changing from yellow to orange, then red, then purple, then blue. It lingered in the teal range for a minute or so, then finally went green.

"What does green mean?"

"It's almost done."

The green brightened, then blinked three times before dimming considerably and changing to a reddish brown.

"Yep, that's what I thought." Moonstruck nodded.

"Is that it?" Evee made a face.

"Were you expecting fireworks?" Moonstruck smirked at her.

"I dunno. Seemed kind of anticlimactic." She scowled. "So, you're using a fire-scale again?"

"Yup."

"So the whole country is low on power."

"Very." Moonstruck shut down the spells then pulled the crystal back to her. She stuffed it back in the bag. "Not as bad as I feared, but far from ideal."

"If it was ideal, we'd have a lot more to contend with." Evee quipped.

"Heh, true. Lets head back. Wanna just fly this time?" Moonstruck dipped a wing and slid out of their tight circle, angling back towards the city.

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

They flew in silence for much of the way, Evee apparently deep in thought going by her intense expression. Moonstruck mulled over what she needed to do next. She knew for certain now that Magmanus could be defeated; with magic this weak he'd be hard pressed to get airborne, much less project his shield. Lucena too was immensely vulnerable. Of all the plans they had in the works, she still wasn't sure how to tackle Lucena. Or if it was even her place to do so. The historical society had said they needed her help to go hoof-to-hoof with the queen, but in reality, that was very much Max's fight. And now she knew he was more than strong enough to take her on.

She just didn't think he was emotionally up to it. She certainly didn't want to force him in to it, but it would get mighty awkward if she took out both his parents in the same day. Hopefully they'd find a way to neutralize Lucena somehow. Maybe a magic disrupter spell would work. She was weak enough it could potentially keep her out of action for hours. Certainly long enough to set up something more permanent. Moonstruck nodded to herself and made a mental note to add disruption spells to her list.


	35. Chapter 34

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Over the next several days, Moonstruck settled into a surprisingly comfortable routine. She slept mostly from a little before dawn to breakfast time, puttered around their apartment until she was sure she wouldn't be summoned, then got back to work enchanting and researching. She slept again a couple of hours before dinner, then they headed down to headquarters to do whatever needed to be done there.

Somewhere in there Lucena returned from Maneas Tirith. Max noted later that she seemed distracted, and was worried when she didn't immediately send him on some errand or another. Moonstruck was fairly distracted herself, so she didn't think much of it until a week had passed without Max being summoned at all. Moonstruck had had lunch with the queen a couple of times, and had accompanied her to a wine tasting one evening, but otherwise had been ignored about as often as she usually was.

Her workload shifted as she located most of the spells they'd need, and she spent more time focusing on getting everypony equipped with nodestones. She did finally locate a more efficient batch-enchanting spell, which sped the process quite a bit. Soon after, pegasus ponies giddily swarmed out of various pony-hole covers and hidden doorways to silently and invisibly fly around the city at night. Moonstruck joined them when she had the time, and after a few nights they dragged Max out as well, though his anxiety wasn't treating him well. Lucena still hadn't spoken to him. In fact, it seemed she was actively avoiding him.

"Something is very, very wrong." He insisted almost two weeks later. "She never ignores me for this long."

They were gliding over the southwest side of the city, following the river upstream towards the mountains. The rest of the pegasus were a few miles away to the east, some had even ventured out into the foothills to see how bad it had gotten. Joseph and Glenda were with them, and Evee and a few of her most elite fliers were keeping watch from over a thousand feet up, so Moonstruck wasn't particularly worried about them.

"I hate to say it, but I'm beginning to agree with you." Moonstruck frowned. "I only see her every couple of days, but she does seem pretty distracted."

"I wish I knew what she was up to." Max groaned. "Sometimes she comes up with projects for herself and… well they usually turn out pretty horrible. But she also usually tells me about them, or at least drops hints."

Moonstruck nodded absently. "At least we seem to be on schedule. I've about got everyone assigned a nodestone, so I can start doing some combat magic crash courses. The teleportation pads work well, and Joseph already placed teleportation beacons in the foothills. I've got them set up so that they can be activated by a number of ponies if we need to be able to teleport out _en masse_."

"Yes, I was just reading through the reports before you came to get me." Max nodded as well. "I'm… I'm still amazed this is all happening."

"Yeah, it's a little mind boggling. I just hope we finish our project before your mom finishes hers."

Max snorted a laugh, then grew more serious. "I… I hate to ask, but I don't suppose you could run me through your crash course on combat magic? Privately. I uh… I fear I'm a bit rusty."

"Yeah, good idea. I need to run through it myself before I go showing other ponies. When do you want to do it?" Moonstruck shrugged.

"Whenever you're free."

"I'm free now." She shrugged again.

"Oh, oh! Right, of course we're just flying for fun." He shook his head. "I suppose headquarters would be a better place. There's a warehouse we keep open for that sort of thing."

"Cool, lets go."

They banked to head back towards Igniz Hill, and within range of the nodestone network, although they were loathe to teleport on such a nice night. Roanamia seemed to be moving ever so slowly into fall. Moonstruck had lost track of how many weeks they'd been in the country, but she felt as if they should have already been transitioning more firmly into autumn by now. The only real indicator that summer was loosing its grip was that it was considerably nicer at night than in the day. There wasn't a hint of chill in the air, but it had been downright pleasant at night for several weeks.

Once they were in the correct neighborhood, they landed and teleported down to the main warehouse. With most of the pegasus out flying around, the warehouse was not busy. A few ponies milled around on the loading docks, and a team of earth ponies was lugging a wagon loaded with cannons across the floor towards the big doors, but it was otherwise quiet. Max led her up to the docks, then back into the tangle of halls and warehouses, finally stopping by a large pair of double doors. He pushed them open then flicked the lights on to reveal a warehouse roughly the size of a soccer field with a ceiling over thirty feet high. The floor and walls were scorched in several places, some in an array of bright colors.

"Buster tests a lot of stuff down here too." Max chuckled as they passed a bright pink and neon green stain that spread across several of the large flagstones.

"It's a good place to do it." Moonstruck nodded. They'd placed benches along the sides of the warehouse, and there were places with low walls that ponies could duck behind. There was a glass booth towards the back on a wheeled platform that Moonstruck assumed could be moved around as needed. That was probably one of Busters toys.

"Okay, so anything in particular you want to know?" She asked as they reached the center of the room.

"Uh… shield spells. Mother never taught me any." Max frowned.

Moonstruck summoned some paper and a pencil from her office and jotted down a standard, go-to spell.

"That's probably the easiest one to cast, and it'll get the job done under most circumstances." Moonstruck grunted, floating the papers over to him.

He took them and frowned down at the spell. "I uh… actually… have no idea how to cast this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… I don't know what any of this means." He was blushing hard. "Mother never taught me magic like this."

Moonstruck lifted her head a little. "She never taught you to read runes?"

"No." Max shook his head and looked away.

"What about the spoken spell?" She took the papers back to write down the easier-to cast spell.

"Er… not… not really. She uh… mostly wanted me to act purely on instinct."

Moonstruck scowled down at her paper. She had not anticipated starting at square one. "Uh… alright, different approach. Lets just see what you've got."

"P-pardon?" He looked up in alarm.

"You know how to use magic on an instinctual level, right? So cast some spells."

"Uh… which ones?"

"I already know you can use telekenisis, and light spells, and you can do that transformation spell. They say you're a fire magic expert, lets see it."

"Oh." He cleared his throat. "Right."

He turned turned away from her, but not before she caught sight of faint grimace. Planting his hooves, he pulled his head back, then swung it forward again. A fireball erupted out of the tip of his horn, streaked across the room and hit the wall with surprisingly little force. It wasn't at all like one of Josephs fireballs – which had a powerful concussive element. It simply rolled across the stones and fizzled out.

She wasn't sure if it was the effort, or the nerves but Max was already sweating.

"Hmm."

"What does that mean?"

"Just… hmm. Not what I was expecting. Why are you holding back so much?"

"I wasn't." He grimaced, again, harder this time.

"Well..." Moonstruck reared up on her hind legs, threw her head back, then lunged forward, flinging a fireball of her own at the far wall. It was a low powered fireball, so it didn't do any real damage, but it still exploded on impact. No gentle rolling.

"It should look more like that."

"Sorry." Max ducked his head.

"It's alright."

"Okay, what else?"

"That's… um… about it."

"Wow."

"I'm sorry, I'm wasting your time." Max shook his head then turned to leave, shaking hard. "I don't know why I asked."

"No! No it's alright! It isn't your fault!" She scrambled to block his path. "Okay, lets change gears. Regular combat! How are you at that?"

"Alright, I guess." He stopped then took a step back, ducking his head. "I'm probably better at dodging than anything else."

"That is not a bad thing." Moonstruck nodded solemnly. "How about this, we spar a little, and I can show you where you can do some magic stuff?"

He blushed. "Uh..."

"It's alright, I'll go easy on you." She grinned.

He blushed harder.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" She lowered her head and planted her hooves.

"I dunno…"

"Too late." Moonstruck barreled forward and pivoted so that she checked him hard in the flank with her shoulder. Max stumbled back and fell on his side.

He lifted his head and shot her a confused glare.

"If you can get past me, you can leave." Moonstruck chuckled.

He scowled then got to his hooves. She had expected him to slide reluctantly into a combat stance, but he bolted instead.

Moonstruck pivoted, darted along beside him, then dropped into a slide to kick his legs out from under him. Max hit the ground with a meaty thud. Again he got to his hooves, and again he tried running instead of fighting. Getting annoyed, Moonstruck tripped him up a little harder, getting in front of him and throwing a kick at his face to get him to rear and pivot, then using one wing to knock him off balance.

"Come on! I know you can do this! Fight back already!" She huffed.

He glared at her again, then closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. The next instance he was practically in her face, driving his horn directly towards her left eye. Moonstruck shifted to the side and threw a wing up to block as she planted her back hooves and slammed into his chest, pushing him back. He twisted to bring his wing in to punch at her throat, prompting her to drop, roll and kick at his belly. He jumped away and she popped back to her hooves just in time to leap backwards to avoid his front hooves.

She found herself grinning tightly as she took an extra bounding step to pivot and buck, nearly hitting him in the snout. He pulled his head back at the last moment then slid sideways and jabbed a wing at her. She bounded forward, opening her own wings and flexing them mightily to twist and flip over his back and land on his opposite flank. If this had been a real fight she would have blasted him while she was upside down. He spun and bucked, she dodged to the left and drove in to body slam him again. He twisted and went for her left wing, but she jabbed it upwards to meet him.

It was his turn to body slam, but she kept her balance, her hooves sending up sparks as she slid backwards a good ten feet. He charged towards her, head low, eyes focused. Moonstruck opened her wings and pumped them hard, sending a strong blast of wind at him that brought him to a surprised halt. She took the opportunity to bolt to the right, but he recovered more quickly than she thought, and he twisted and caught her across the cheek with his horn before slamming his shoulders into her.

She went down this time, using the momentum to roll and pop up on her hooves a short distance away.

"Nice!" She laughed. Her face was probably going to be sore after this, she could already feel the welt forming. Unicorn horns weren't particularly sharp, but they could still leave a mark. She rubbed her cheek with one knee, then looked back.

Max was staring at her with wide eyes, all color was gone from his face.

"I'm sorry." He squeaked.

"Nah, it's fine. It happens." She shrugged. "Ready for round two?"

"I-I'm so sorry!" He took a step back, head lowering, back arching, trying to make himself smaller.

"No, really, it's okay, you get hurt sparring sometimes." Moonstruck took a step towards him.

He took a step back, shook his head, continued muttering apologies. Then he turned tail and ran.

Moonstruck wasn't sure if she should go after him or not. He was out the door before she could decide, nearly barreling Lindsey over as he passed her.

Lindsey recovered and turned to watch him run, then turned back.

"What just happened?"

"I'm not sure." Moonstruck rubbed her cheek again.

"Why are you in the combat room?" Lindsey asked as she moved closer.

Moonstruck explained. By the time she finished, Lindsey was a little pale herself.

"Oh." Lindsey grimaced. "You _are_ okay, right?"

"Of course." Moonstruck scowled. "So, I'm guessing you know what _that_ was all about."

"Max… um…" She worked her jaw around a little, twisted a hoof, swished her tail. "Well he's still pretty traumatized from when we first met."

"Did you kick his rump?"

"No." Lindsey smiled faintly, then the expression faded from her face, though it never quite reached frown stage.

"When I was... well still a filly, really, Max was sent to my village. It was his first solo command." Lindsey murmured. "The queen had sent him with an elite commando team that had shown exceptional loyalty to her. They were supposed to round up some rebels that were based in my village."

She shook her head. "There weren't any rebels, just a few escaped pegasus. When they landed, they immediately started destroying the village, rounding up ponies. Killing ponies for sport."

Moonstruck felt something cold start to settle in her gut.

"My mom told me to take my brother and run to the sea caves up the coast but it was already too late. We barely made it three blocks before a pair of soldiers blocked our path. They killed my brother. Just... right there. Right in the street."

While her voice was monotone, and her face slack, Lindseys eyes were wide, haunted, staring straight ahead. Into the past.

"It was... it was the most absurd thing – just killing a little colt like that. Like squashing a bug. I... I lost it, and charged. It was stupid. I'd never fought anyone before, they were bigger than me, I can't use magic." She shook her head slowly. "They laughed."

"I guess Max heard the commotion and came over to investigate. The soldiers pinned me and told him they'd caught a wild one. I started screaming about my brother. I don't know why I did, I mean, why would the prince care? He's just some horrible half dragon freak, right? But I did."

She turned to look at Moonstruck but her eyes were still gazing far away. "And you know what he said?"

She dropped her voice low to imitate Max's. "That was absolutely uncalled for. We're here for rebels, not to slaughter children."

"Crazy, right? I didn't know how to take that, I mean, this _thing_ just _listened_ to me." She chuckled softly, her focus coming back to the present, somewhat.

"They got into an argument. Max... Max knew something was up, but his second in command was the one really running the show, so it didn't matter. I don't even remember what that creep said, but Max just hauled out and blasted him. Killed him instantly. That shut the soldiers up. After that it was like... there was no going back. He killed all of them. The entire commando team. They never saw what hit them."

Her gaze unfocused again. "I don't know why but I followed him. I just... I wasn't done yelling yet, I guess, but when I found him he was sort of hunched over a body of one of his soldiers and – stars he was shaking, and... I saw him for what he really was; just a scared, gangly colt."

"That's when I realized no one was safe from Lucena. Not even her own son. Max turned and looked at me and he was so afraid, and horrified and... he... he just started crying. Then I started crying." She looked away, smiling sadly. Lindsey shook herself and brought herself fully back to the present.

"Anyway, we just cried together for a while, then we got to talking. Max didn't have anywhere to hide, so he'd have to go back. We ended up convincing everyone to leave the village so we could burn it down. Make it look like the 'rebels' had taken out the commando team, and Max was the lone survivor."

She looked down. "My family had been killed in the raid, so I came back to Bridle-Dur with him. Somewhere in there we decided this had to stop. Founded the Historical Society about a year later and we've been building up strength ever since."

"I don't think he's ever really recovered from that day. That's why he can't stand to see anyone hurt, can't stand to send anyone into a dangerous situation, always over-plans and second guesses."

Moonstruck swore. She wished she was standing near a wall so that she could bang her head against it.

"Nice going Mooney, just had to goad him into a fight, didn't ya?"

"You didn't know." Lindsey grimaced.

"I should have guessed." Moonstruck growled. She marched past her, trying to remember where the kitchen was in this place.

"Where are you going?"

"To attempt to fix things."

Lindsey ultimately had to show her where the kitchen was, and thankfully Fern was around to show her where her stash of herbal teas were. Moonstruck brewed up a cup and swiped a corn muffin as they were being pulled out of the oven. Setting both on a tray, she made her way up to where she knew Max's office was, mulling over what to say as she went.

She hadn't really decided by the time she reached his door, but knocked softly anyway. There was no reply, so she cautiously pushed it open. She had figured he'd be in there, but she hadn't expected him to be huddled up in a blanket in the far corner. At least, she assumed that was him. It could be a couple of chairs stacked on a sofa under there.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you." Moonstruck blurted, finally deciding to just be frank.

Max flinched and turned his head, one green eye visible beneath the blanket as it slid off his head slightly.

She marched over and set the tray on the ledge next to him then took a step back, unsure how to continue. She hung her head and shuffled in place.

"I… well… Lindsey told me what happened. Why you… I'm sorry."

Max shuddered slightly and retreated back into his blanket. "That's… that's not for you to be sorry for."

"No. And it's not yours either."

He started and peeked his snout out of the blanket, letting out a breathy, "what?"

"Sometimes..." she frowned. "Mom used to say that sometimes the worst decision you can make is to not make one. That sometimes even the wrong choice is better than not choosing at all."

"I killed them, Moonstruck." He murmured, the pain in his voice so sharp she could feel it from where she stood. "And I hurt you. I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster, you're just weird." Moonstruck shook her head and sat down. "There's nothing wrong with being weird."

"I don't… I don't think you grasp the situation -"

"Windmare Bay. How many ponies are dead because I froze up?" She snapped.

He did not respond.

"I know it would have been so much worse in the long run if I'd done something. But holy oats… I could have annihilated Lucenas fleet in _one blast_. I could have taken she and Eira out before they had any clue what was going on. It would have been _easy_." Moonstruck huffed, the damage she did to the underground city flashing across her minds eye. She honestly hadn't known she was capable of that level of destruction.

"But I froze. _I. Froze._ "

"It… really, really would have been bad." Max mumbled after a short pause.

"I know. And you were in a bad situation back then, too. But for you, _not_ acting would have been worse."

He nodded slightly. They were quiet for a time. Moonstruck gazed out the window, watched ponies mill around downstairs. After a minute or so, pegasus began teleporting in, Joseph and Glenda among them. The echoes of their laughter made it up to Max's office. They must have had a good time out there.

"You got me on the cheek, and I body slammed you a few times with more force than I actually needed to, so lets call it even, eh?" Moonstruck said after they'd been quiet for a while, and the pegasus had dispersed to go back to whatever they'd been doing before they'd gone out for a fly.

"You weren't holding back?" He scooted the blanket back a little further to give her an incredulous look.

"Oh, I coulda sent you through the wall if I wanted. I just estimated your weight wrong. You're lighter than you look." She gave him a sideways glance.

"Oh." He scowled. "I suppose you could have attacked me with magic at any point, too."

"Yup. I'm probably the monster, here."

He laughed softly.

She got to her hooves. "Well, I'll leave you alone now."

He grunted, but otherwise did not reply.

Moonstruck paused when she was half way across the room. "Actually, I'll be back. You're gonna want some ice."

* * *

A/N: MAX IS TRYING HIS BEST, OKAY. Poor colt's been traumatized. Look at him, he has anxiety.


	36. Chapter 35

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

As another two weeks passed, Moonstruck was quite convinced that Roanamia was stuck in summer. Joseph agreed, although he couldn't say for certain without leaving and coming back. Glenda informed them that summer had been getting longer and longer the past few years. Strangely, the Bridle-Dur ponies seemed to be on track with the rest of the world with their timekeeping, so perhaps it was a seasonal distortion and not so much a time distortion. Under different circumstances it would be something worth looking in to, but as it was, the big day was fast approaching, and no one had enough time to spare.

Moonstruck had never imagined she'd be stretched so thin! She'd barely even had time to throw that pizza party for the jewelry makers when the last batch was made. The time it took to actually get out to Crystal Creek to pick up the pizzas pretty much ate up all the time she'd set aside for the party, so she'd only stuck around long enough to thank everyone profusely and snag a slice for herself. After that she actually had to enchant the necklaces, then get them assigned. She passed the ponies on to Joseph and Glenda for a training run while she ran down to the combat room to train unicorns. After that she had all sorts of things to enchant, and flight training with the pegasus, and equipment that needed either building or hauling.

Surprisingly Max joined in on the combat magic classes, although he still held back. Moonstruck quickly discovered that she did indeed have to start at square one for many of the unicorns. While they could use magic, their spell casting knowledge was easily as limited as the prince. He was more apt to learn the spoken spells than the actual combat part, but it was a pretty big deal that he was even attempting that much. As he gained confidence, she made it a point to drag him along to flight training as well – something he was far more willing to participate in. He was a little less keen on aerial combat, but it it was easier to swallow if she mixed in other practical spells, like shields that he could project over others, and light spells he could send into dark buildings. Typically they'd part ways when it came time to build or haul, but there were a few nights where the extra muscle was a big help. Two alicorns could move some mighty big equipment by themselves, freeing up earth ponies to tackle other jobs.

Glenda pointed out one morning that she'd essentially been teaching him about each tribe of pony, and how he encompassed all of them. She then slid a scone over as a reward. Moonstruck ate the scone, but side-eyed Glenda the entire time. Glenda wasn't wrong, but the implication that she'd been training Moonstruck via classical conditioning while Moonstruck didn't notice was not to be ignored. At least Joseph had gotten a good laugh out of it.

At long last, they set a proper date. The night of the new moon; the idea being that the darkest night would bring forth a brighter dawn. Moonstruck found that kind of silly, and figured a sneak attack during a half moon or something would be more unpredictable, but Max and some of his history buff and poetry friends were all gung ho about it, so new moon it was. It was two and a half weeks out, and they just about had everything in place. Since they were so close to being done, they slowed their pace so that everyone could rest, and gather strength for the coming battles.

Moonstruck somewhat loathed the idea of slowing down. It wasn't that she wanted to be done ahead of time so much that she was worried about the nightmares coming back. She'd basically been falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion, and hadn't been dreaming at all. Not being exhausted was a little daunting. The others were right though, too much depended on her being in tip-top shape. She really couldn't afford to be half asleep for everything. Although she might be anyway, if the nightmares came back.

She hadn't told anyone about them. Max knew she still felt horrible, and she wouldn't be surprised if Glenda had her suspicions, but she didn't want to add her problems to the very long list they still had to tackle. The first full night of sleep she got she cursed Lucena for ruining something else she generally enjoyed. Parties, going to the beach, sleeping – what next?

Thankfully the nightmares did not come back. At least in full force. One over a five day span wasn't too bad, and she was able to get back to sleep fairly easily.

A week before the big day, Lucena called her down for some event happening in the tower – which was not unusual, but she also asked her to bring Joseph and Glenda – which was concerning, to say the least. With some trepidation she fired up the puppet and made sure Glenda was tucked away demurely under a cloak. They hoped it was a surprise (and hopefully quick) trip somewhere, although Moonstruck assumed they would have been instructed to pack their bags if that was the case.

A new pony came to escort them today. Moonstruck wondered if their usual escorts were on vacation, or if this pony had simply been added to the staff on this floor. Unfortunately she couldn't ask; Glenda would have to get the low-down later, since _she_ could chat up the staff without raising any eyebrows.

Out they went, down the hall to the elevator, past the floor the main audience chamber was on, down to one of the lower levels. They stopped on the sixth floor. Moonstruck realized as they left the elevator that the operator was new too. At least she thought so. She spent more time in her suite than anywhere else in the tower so she couldn't say for sure.

They made a partial circuit around the tower to what she guessed was the west side. Her guess was confirmed as they passed a section of large picture windows that looked out over the city, and smog shrouded mountains beyond. Their attendant told them to wait in front of a pair of large, ornate double doors that stood opposite an equally large bank of glass doors that led out onto a broad balcony. The mare poked her head in the doors, then backed up and motioned them through. As soon as they were in the dimly lit hallway beyond, Joseph stopped and lifted his head in alarm. Moonstruck glanced back at him, but he lowered his head and started forward again, a deep scowl upon his scaly brow and his snout wrinkled slightly, like he'd just smelled something fowl.

She hadn't sensed anything, nor smelled anything strange. Glenda didn't react, although she was tucked away in her hood, so if she'd made a face, no one would have been able to see it.

On guard, Moonstruck set the puppets gaze firmly forward and flicked her actual ears left and right to try to pinpoint any suspicious noises. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The hall was short, and they were soon led into a large courtroom that was just shy of being an amphitheater. The center seats were empty, but the galleries to either side and up above had a very bad illusion over them. She couldn't see through the illusion itself, but there was a faint, shifting and shimmering to the empty pews that was a dead giveaway. She kept the puppets gaze forward and shifted her scrying spell to look at Joseph. He was glancing around at the galleries as well, which meant he could likely see the distortion. If Joseph could see it, Glenda likely could too. Whomever cast those spells had to be either very weak, or really bad at it.

"Ah, perfect timing!" Lucena said, emerging from the little room that Moonstruck assumed was the judges chambers just as she switched the scrying spell back to its default location.

"I'm sure you'll find this most amusing!"

"I do enjoy surprises!" Moonstruck beamed. Keeping her voice light and clueless was amazingly difficult. She wasn't sure if she should ask about the illusions surrounding them. If Lucena had cast them herself, it was possible she didn't know how bad they were. Pointing that out would be a disaster, most likely.

"Come, come, stand up here, to the right of the judges stand." Lucena waved her onto the dais that held the judges stand and witness box above the rest of the courtroom. As she mounted the steps, Kyrenai emerged from the room and closed the door before shuffling over to stand sullenly next to the witness stand.

"Your attendants can stand on the lower steps, yes right there is perfect. They should find this… _educational._ " Lucena grinned. There was something about the way she said _educational_ that made Moonstruck think she actually meant _terrifying_.

She wasn't really sure how to respond so she made the puppet smile and nod vapidly. Motion at the other end of the chamber drew her attention to the hallway. Guards began to file into the room marching two by two. They split into two lines as they reached the back pews, fanning out to stand in a line just in front of the side galleries, and the shoddy illusion obscuring them. Moonstruck glanced up as she heard hoof steps in the galleries above as well.

"Just a formality, I assure you." Lucena waved her concern away. "I'm sure there won't be any real trouble."

The guards were in place all of thirty seconds when the distant outer doors opened once again. Another tower staffer marched in, leading an irate Max. He glanced around at the guards, did a very good job of not reacting to Moonstruck, Joseph and Glenda, then fixed a very bored stare on his mother.

"What is it now?" He asked from across the room, walking slowly down the center aisle.

"What's that? I can't hear you when you're being disrespectful." Lucena sneered.

Max reached the dais, gave her a look, then swept into a low, wide winged bow. "What do you wish of me?"

"Did an animal just speak?" Lucena asked, glancing over at Moonstruck. "I could have sworn this beast just uttered words!"

Moonstruck really wasn't sure how to respond. Max let out an irate growl then pushed himself up onto his hind legs, his front hooves splitting and separating into fingers.

"Oh! Maximus! There you are! I thought you were still spouting nonsense on the other end of the room!"

He gave her a flat look. Lucena returned it with a tight grin.

"So, it seems you've been a busy little colt lately, haven't you?" Lucena took a slow, almost languid step forward as Moonstruck felt her blood run cold.

"I'll admit, I'm a little impressed. It took a surprising amount of digging to find your trail."

Swearing silently to herself, Moonstruck wracked her brain for a way to communicate with the historical society without drawing attention to herself. It would be better if Joseph or Glenda did it. Except they couldn't just disappear into stealth mode with dozens of ponies watching. She was already invisible and tucked away under the skirt so she could throw up a silence bubble and warn everyone, but if Lucena asked her something she wouldn't be able to respond quickly enough.

"I don't follow." Max said, somehow maintaining his cool.

"Oh, don't play dumb, the jig is up! I know you're planning a rebellion. A sorry, pathetic rebellion." Lucena scoffed, she waved her hand. "Really, I ran myself in silly circles until I realized the tower staff probably knew everything."

Moonstruck furrowed her brow. Max was adamant about keeping everypony in the historical society out of the tower staff and vice versa. He felt it was too risky to have any other members in the tower itself since Lucena had a bad habit of….

 _Oh no._

"Mother… what did you do?" Max asked, his cool settling into a deep concern.

"The logical thing, of course!" She lifted a hand and snapped her fingers. The illusions covering the galleries dissolved to reveal what Joseph had probably smelled when they came in, and the whereabouts of the familiar tower staff.

Moonstrucks brain came to a complete standstill as she heard Joseph hiss, and Glenda let out a very low swear.

They were dead. Had been at least a few days. She darted her eyes over the corpses propped up in the gallery pews. The orange and purple stallion whom often served as her escort around the tower; one of the cleaning crew, a kitchen attendant, an elevator operator, someone from the mail room, a low level guardspony. Groundskeepers, sweepers, cooks – few ponies were safe it seemed. At least the ponies Lucena didn't find useful or trustworthy enough to keep around.

"What – Mother! Why did you!?"

"It took a few days of torture but I finally got the whole story. How you're mobilizing duds in Dirtton, and earth ponies in Maneas Tirith. Gathering gypsum to power some sort of cobbled together superweapon. Your alliance with the Dunsmir family of the Crystal Cut Valley and..."

Lucenas voice faded away as Moonstruck drifted to a place in her mind she'd never been before. It was not cold, nor dark, nor peaceful. It was hot. Very hot. Smoldering. Bright. Brighter than the sun. She started to laugh. A loud, boisterous, deranged laugh. Her body jerked forward of its own accord, the spells keeping the puppet on her back coming smoothly undone. She was aware of Lucena and Maxes eyes on her. She was unaware of the scorch marks she left on the cold stone behind her.

"See! Ha! I knew you'd find this hilarious! He's so incompetent, isn't he!?" Lucenas voice sounded like it was coming down a long tunnel. She gestured to Max then turned to look almost lovingly at him. "For one thing, the Dunsmirs have been lowly crystal prospectors for a few centuries. For another gypsum is a terrible power crystal and then the...

Moonstruck laughed harder.

Lucena. Had no. Idea.

"This is! This is… I honestly never would have thought!" She managed to choke out, barely keeping the puppet going as the horrified laughter subsided and rage boiled to the surface, threatening to light the world on fire. She was most inclined to let it.

"I _know_!"

"I motion to move up the time table!"

"What?" Lucena gave her a strange look.

"Uh..." Max gave her a horrified look.

"Seconded." Joseph growled.

"All in favor?"

"AYE!" Glenda added her own growl to Josephs.

Moonstruck let the puppet slide off her back and canceled the last of her spells.

Lucenas face twisted from confusion to shock.

"You!? _You_ \- "

Moonstruck looked her dead in the eye, then hit her with a magical disruption spell and pumped more power into it than she really needed to, turning it into a blunt force that sent Lucena flying across the room.

"MOONEY!?" Max yelped.

Lucena let out a piercing scream as she stared in horror at her hands which were quickly reverting back to hooves.

"KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!" She shrieked. Moonstruck lunged towards her, not entirely sure what she was going to do, but Lucena managed to scramble onto the dais and slammed her hoof-hand down on an ornate rose carving. She disappeared. Teleported, most likely.

Moonstruck whirled just in time to watch Joseph take out three guards at once.

Over a hundred guards against the four of them. Hardly a fair fight.

The more magically inclined guards hurled their halberds at them, but Moonstruck jumped into the middle of the group, stamped a back hoof to send the disruption spell out in a circle around herself and her friends. Then she grabbed hold of the still airborne, but faltering halberds with her own telekinesis, spun them around and returned them to their respective ponies, whom scrambled out of the way in a panic.

The courtroom erupted into chaos as organized attacks were abandoned in favor of simply mobbing whomever was closest. This proved to be troublesome for the guards as well, for Joseph was most adept at fighting multiple ponies at once. Moonstruck, of course, could just pick them all up and send them flying (which she did on several occasions), and Glenda could buck like a seasoned bronco, and sent a few flying herself. She was also quick and brutal with wing jabs, and demonstrated on at least three unfortunate stallions that not only was she not above biting, but that she most certainly still had all of her teeth. Max joined in the fray, mostly hitting guards with stun blasts, and doing his best to stay out of the others way.

In less then a minute, the courtroom was empty, say for them, and what unlucky guards had either been killed, or knocked unconscious. The rest had fled.

"Where'd Kyrenai go? Next to mother she's -" Max whipped around, scanning the downed ponies.

"I surrender."

Max nearly jumped out of his scales as Kyrenai stepped in front of him. She pulled her hood back and knelt into a bow so low her muzzle touched the floor.

Moonstruck tore her gaze away from where Lucena had last been and raised an eyebrow at the maroon unicorn.

"Uh..."

Glenda trotted past them, already talking to someone in the historical society.

"I have committed horrible crimes." Kyrenai straightened up and stared up at Max with so much pain in her icy blue eyes Moonstruck was a little surprised she was still standing. "I do not deserve your mercy, nor your understanding, much less forgiveness. My only request is to be executed at once."

"Uh..." Max took a step back.

The tower began to shake. It was subtle at first, but it worked its way up the structure in something of a rumbling wave. It did not taper off for quite some time.

Without another word they bolted to the door, galloping recklessly past the pews and up the narrow hall. Moonstruck blasted the doors clean off, then flung the glass doors across the larger hall open, allowing them to barrel onto the balcony without breaking stride. They slid to a stop and beheld a most horrible and amazing sight. The distant volcano that Magmanus slept in was erupting; great black clouds billowed fiercely from the shrouded peak and even from forty some miles away a few sprays of bright magma could be seen jetting against the ash.

Then the ash parted briefly and a great dark head emerged from the gloom, fire burning in his open maw, the clouds parting further as he flexed his wings and let out a roar that was the voice of the mountain itself.

Magmanus was awake. And he was not amused.

"I did not expect him to be quite that big." Moonstruck muttered into the stunned silence. He was easily two – possibly even three times the size of the dragons she had fought before. Plainly visible despite the distance and smog; a great fat smudge of a winged lizard clinging to the side of the erupting volcano.

"Well, I'm out. It was nice knowing you guys!" Joseph promptly spun and started back towards the doors.

"Whoa whoa! Hold up! We don't even know if he can take off!" Moonstruck yelped, scrambling over to head him off. "Besides! We already know I can take him out!"

"No way! No way! Maybe if he was half that size, but he's..." Joseph stopped, then pointed back at the mountain and shook his head. "There's no way!"

"It's like I told you! There's not enough magic for him to cast his shield spell – there may not even be enough magic for him to take off! I mean look how tiny his wings are compared to the rest of him!" Moonstruck gestured at the mountain as well.

Joseph stared. Moonstruck looked over her shoulder to watch.

Magmanus was airborne. But there was something odd about the way he was flying. It might have been a trick of the distance but it seemed more like he was simply floating in place than gliding. His wingspan was less than half his total body length, and his distended belly dangled low, making him almost look like a strange, sideways sailboat.

"Oh that is hilarious!" Moonstruck barked a laugh. "Alright, look dude, I need you on this. I just need you to go and lure him away from the city."

"You're kidding! I'm like a mosquito next to that thing!" Joseph stepped back and pulled his head up.

"Exactly! A small, fast, impossible to swat mosquito!" Moonstruck grinned tightly.

Joseph frowned at her.

"C'mon, it'll be just like the crystal mines. But this time you set 'em up and I'll knock 'em down." She lifted a hoof and extended it towards him, holding it there.

He flinched ever so slightly at the mention of the crystal mines, then closed his eyes. For a few tense moments Moosntruck was afraid he'd bolt, but he finally heaved as sigh. He balled one hand into a fist them bumped it against her hoof.

"For the record, this absolutely, stupidly insane."

"Noted."

"You owe me for this, by the way." He added as he reluctantly trotted over to the railing. He hopped up on it and threw her a dark look.

"Yeah, yeah, add it to my tab."

"I'm calling in your tab if we survive this."

"It's only fair."

He grumbled something unintelligible under his breath then set his sights on the distant behemoth. Crouching low, he spread his speckled wings then sprang lightly into the air, each wingbeat propelling him faster and higher into the sky. Moonstruck didn't watch him go. She spun to tell the others what she had in mind, somehow not surprised to see that Lindsey and Evee had teleported in. Lindsey had brought Max a paper bag, which he was presently hyperventilating in to.

"I take it Glenda filled you in?" She asked.

"Yup. What's the plan?" Evee asked, gaze fixed on the distant dragon.

"Getting to that." Moonstruck trotted over and crouched down in front of Max, who was lying on his belly holding the paper bag over his nose with his front hooves.

"Okay, this might actually be a good thing."

He stared at her like she'd just sprouted an extra head.

"Look, before there was going to be a battle, and we or – well, lets face it _I_ would probably have to do something nasty to Lucena." Moonstruck made eye contact and held it. "But this way, you get to do something that will cheese your mom off so bad she might just have an aneurysm and croak without anypony having to lay a hoof on her."

The extra head seemed to have sprouted another, smaller head going by his expression.

"You're going to evacuate the city."

He shook his head slightly, the uncertainty creeping in to mingle with the fear in his eyes.

"Yes you can. Everything's already set up for it, you just need to get the ball rolling. Joseph and I will come back and help as soon as we can." Moonstruck said slowly and calmly.

"Nopony knows the city better than you and the Historical Society. The evacuation plans are _your_ plans. Yours. You can do this. You can get them to safety."

She lifted a hoof, extended it towards him and held it there. "You can do this."

He looked down at her hoof, slowed his breathing a little, then shakily reached up and bumped his hoof to hers.

"Awesome." She beamed at him then hopped up onto the railing herself.

"Alright, that's your plan. Joseph and I will deal with Magmanus. You try to get as many ponies out of the city as you can before the lahars hit."

With that, she sprang mightily into the air, driving for altitude and speed, an odd sort of peace settling into her bones even as the adrenaline coursed through her blood.

* * *

Max watched Moonstruck go, dimly aware of the others gathering around him. Closing his eyes, he sat up and pulled the bag off his snout. The air already smelled of brimstone and spent lightening, and the volcanoes ash cloud wasn't even overhead yet. Another earthquake rattled the tower, sending a jolt of urgency after the anxiety that still caused his limbs to tremble and his mouth to dry.

"Right." He muttered, climbing to his hooves. "Right. That mountain and the adjacent peaks had some of the last glaciers on it. Going by past eruptions, we may only have an hour or two before the river floods."

"Back to headquarters?" Lindsey asked.

"That's a good boy." Glenda cooed, patting him on the flank with one wing. She produced a scone from under her cloak and hoofed it to him.

Max gave her an odd look. "Perhaps later. And, no, we need to transfer the command center to the main audience chamber. The storm drains are not safe right now. The audience chamber is one of the oldest, sturdiest parts of the tower. Even if the upper levels came down, it would not crumble."

"Right. On it." Lindsey grunted, activating her nodestone and calling up the ponies to start setting up the teleportation devices that would allow them to transfer everything – and everyone – they'd need up to the audience chamber.

Max took a stumbling step forward, commanded his legs to cooperate, then started off into a shaky trot that grew more steady as he went. They would need to take the main stairs. The elevators would not be working with the earthquakes, and the secret passageways would take too much time. No staff could be found in the halls on this floor, but it was possible Mother had ordered and/or scared them off. Several admirals came around the corner as they reached the main stairs.

"Your Highness! What in blazes is going on!?" They yelped once they spotted he and his group.

"Mother has summoned Magmanus." Max said cooly as they mounted the steps. He wondered how long it would take for the admirals to notice his entourage consisted of a dud, and two pegasus, none of whom wore any tower livery or military uniforms. Glenda had ditched her cloak somewhere, it seemed.

"Yes, but why? Where is the queen? What are our orders? Are we to keep ponies from fleeing the city?"

Max paused on the first landing and spun to face them.

"I have no idea where Mother ran off to. No, gentlecolts, this is a _coup d'etat_. Duchess Angelina is presently dealing with Magamanus, and _we_ are going to evacuate the city. Your help would be welcome. Your interference will be not be tolerated."

They gaped at him. " _You_ caused Her Majesty to summon the dragon!? This is absolutely -"

He decided to take a page from Moonstrucks book and simply lift them off the floor and hold them still. There were only four of them, and they were not particularly heavy. He stepped over to stand snout to snout with the most senior admiral.

"You will help, or you will leave."

The old stallion stared at him and worked his jaw around, seemed about to speak several times but didn't seem capable of building up the nerve to say what he wanted to say.

Max let them all drop, not bothering to lower them gently. The stallions exchanged glances, then scrambled to their hooves and down the stairs without another word.

"Didn't think they'd want to help." Evee muttered.

"Neither did I." Max agreed. They continued up the stairs. Four flights to the tenth floor, then around to the south side of the building to the grand audience chamber. It was not empty, as he expected; many on the tower staff were huddled in corners. They likely knew this was one of the safest areas of the tower as well.

"Y-your Highness! What should we do!?" They yelped, pouring out of their hiding places. Under normal circumstances they would be terrified to approach him, much less at a run.

"We're going to teleport in some ponies and things, just stay out of the way. Or, no - go and find everyone in the tower and get them into the lower, older levels. I'll send someone around with instructions soon. But, ah, stay out of the grand courtroom. We… well, we'll have to send someone down to deal with that later." He frowned.

"What about the queen?"

"Avoid her if you can. I doubt she'll come out of wherever she's hiding for a while, but she'll be in a very fowl mood when she does" He shook his head. "Oh and let the pegasus out of the stables. They're free to go where they like, although we would appreciate their help."

The unicorns that made up the tower staff shifted their gaze to Glenda and Evee, whom were helping Lindsey map out a section of floor for where the big table would go. As they watched, a small team of historical society ponies teleported in with a wagonload of equipment. The team consisted of six earth ponies, a pair of unicorns, and four pegasus.

"What's going on?" The new herald asked.

"I'm taking over." Max shrugged. "How do you feel about national health care, sick pay, and not being tortured or killed for small mistakes?"

The unicorns exchanged glances.

"What about Magmanus?"

"Dutchess Angelina is taking care of him. I hope." He grimaced.

"I'll take it." One mare quipped. She worked her way out of the crowd. "You got enough magic users? My telekinesis is pretty good."

"Come on over!" Lindsey beamed as she trotted up. "We're ready for the transfer."

"Good, do it." Max nodded.

"Go!" Lindsey barked.

The equipment the ponies had brought had been several teleportation nodes, and a large teleportation pad that they had cleverly designed to break down into several pieces for ease of transport. The unicorns spoke the words to activate the nodes, which sent a relay of energy between them. The pad lit up, then the table, the big map of the city, several large stacks of books, and a good two dozen ponies teleported in.

"Everyone alright?" Evee asked.

All positive replies.

"Good, the beacons are set up, ponies are clear to teleport in." Lindsey said into her nodestone.

"Excellent." Max nodded curtly. "Evee, get out there and start surveying the situation. I'm sure a number of buildings have already collapsed. Lindsey, start getting the teams coordinated. Glenda, could you go with some of the tower staff down to the stables to talk with the pegasus there?"|

"Of course." She nodded and trotted over to the group of stunned staffers. "Come along then, I don't know the way."

"I'll show you." One of the younger stallions volunteered.

The rest of the tower staff exchanged glances and seemed to remember they were supposed to be helping their fellow employees get to safe places. Many of them scrambled off to do that, while a few stuck around to help with the command center set-up.

"You… actually _were_ planning a rebellion?"

Max started and half turned to see that Kyrenai had followed them. She was watching the chaos unfold, then contract into frantic organization. He had to admit, the transition into organization was very satisfying to watch. Soothing, even.

"Yes. Not what mother came up with, but, yes."

"Your Highness! What's happening?! The other divisions are pulling out – they say you've committed high treason and the queen has sent Magmanus to punish us all for our sins!"

Max glanced back to see one of his generals - General Markus - scramble into the grand audience chamber, with a few of his other commanders in tow, all out of breath.

"Ah, yes, actually. That would be reasonably accurate. That is Lindsey, she'll be your coordinator on this mission. We need to evacuate the city." He pointed at the mare in question, who was scrambling around a ways away.

"I… sir?"

"I've already got your radio frequencies!" Lindsey barked from half way across the room. She could be amazingly loud when she wanted. "We're gonna need airships over Rose Lake, Dirtton, and Tower Shade! The earthquake damage is really bad in those neighborhoods!"

"We'll also need crews on the ground in Upriver ASAP." Buster added as he and his team trotted past with saddlebags full of surveying equipment and things Max suspected were explosives.

"Sir!?"

"You heard them. Get on it!"

Markus exchanged glances with the other commanders.

"Oh, and take Kyrenai with you."

"What?" She stared up at him in confusion. "I told you, I don't deserve your mercy - "

"This isn't mercy, it's your punishment. Community service. Effective immediately."

She blinked a few times, bit her lip, then turned away, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She marched over to the commanders and took her place among them. She pulled her hood forward to hide her face.

He watched to make sure they scurried off to get things rolling, then turned and trotted into the fray, wishing he'd taken that scone from Glenda after all. They had a long day ahead of them, and he doubted he'd get a chance to eat much of anything. He reached the table and looked around as ponies slowed, waiting for orders. Shifting his gaze to the map, the last of the trepidation dissipated, and he felt strangely at home. Lindsey ran by and dropped a radio headset on the table in front of him. He nodded once.

"Okay. Lets do this."

* * *

A/N: UH OH.

I didn't notice it for months afterwards, but I totally had an Avengers Assemble moment in there when Mooney and everyone were fighting off the guards. Like, right when Mooney jumps down with the magic disruptor spell, there could totally be a big camera pan around the four of them springing into action with some epic music playing and all that.


	37. Chapter 36

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Joseph could not wrap his brain around what he was presently doing. He should be flying as fast as he could _away_ from a titan dragon - not _towards_ it. Certainly not with the intent to goad it into a chase. He knew the physics were actually in his favor, but one wrong move would be the death of him.

Yet his wings pumped, and his lungs took in air, and he kept his eyes fixed on the goal ahead. He also kept an eye on the ash cloud that was rising from the volcano. Although as a dragon he had a certain tolerance to much of the noxious gasses volcanoes could produce, he was not immune to them the way larger dragons were. If there was a poison cloud lurking around the volcano, he would have to wait for Magmanus to clear it before he made his presence known.

And going by how slowly the behemoth was moving, that could be a bit of a wait. Joseph was already half way there, and while Magmanus was still slowly drifting towards town, he seemed to have covered more ground simply by stretching out, than by gliding. Or at least, it looked that way. When Joseph was still a good ten miles away, Magmanus seemed to tire of his slow progress and began to pump his undersized wings, propelling himself forward at the speed of an especially determined snail.

The sky began to darken as he approached, the ash cloud blocking out the sun as it hit the top of the shield and began to spread along its curve (which was a very strange sight). It had not yet began to fall, so the air below was about as clear as it ever was. The volcano itself was socked in, and lightening lit up the western sky. Every so often the wind would shift and he'd get a glimpse of magma oozing down the upper slopes. The bulk of the eruption seemed to be explosive, with gas and ash being the predominant byproduct of Magmanus's emergence.

Although he was only a few miles away now, and in plain sight, the titanic dragon showed no indication of noticing him, his massive, green eyes were focused on Bridle-Dur, and the smorgasbord of ponies within.

As the last mile passed by in a blur, Joseph braced himself for what he was about to do. He was higher than the great wyrm, and he waited until he was directly over his snout before he tucked his wings and dove. He had to reach deep to pull every brash, reckless stunt of his youth up to the surface, and combine them to create the most arrogant, foolhardy taunts he could think of – not to mention the courage to actually say them.

He opened his wings at the last moment and landed squarely on the end of Magmanus's snout – right between his flaring nostrils.

"Bugger off you yellow bellied, tick bitten, overgrown lizard geezer! This is my turf now!" Joseph roared, flaring his wings and staring the larger dragon down.

Magmanus blinked several times then nearly crossed his eyes to bring Joseph into focus.

"Yeah, you heard me! You might've been the boss 'round here once, but your time was over centuries ago! Go get your beauty sleep somewhere else!"

For a few tense moments Magmanus did not respond, then he let out a chuckle that rivaled the volcano erupting behind him.

"Insolent whelp!" He rumbled, his voice so low it was felt more than heard. "I will teach you to respect your superiors!"

"Respect this!" Joseph made a rude gesture, then promptly spat his hottest fireball, hitting Magmanus right between the eyes.

He sprang into the air as Magmanus jerked his head back in surprise, and let out a mighty hiss.

Joseph dared to glance back to see that he actually did manage to do some damage; there was now a smoking crater on Magmanus's face where he'd blown a thick scale clean off. Granted, it was a small crater – maybe only a foot in diameter – but it proved that Magmanus was probably about as vulnerable as Lucena. Normally a dragon of that size and age would be pretty well impervious to fire, or molten rock, or pretty much anything.

Vulnerable, but not incapable of defending himself. Joseph darted into a twisting dive as Magmanus swung his jaws around with surprising quickness to snap at him, then breathed a vast column of churning flame in his wake. It was so hot Joseph could feel his tail feathers curl even though he was already well clear of the blast. The ground below exploded from it, and what was left of the surrounding forest was immediately set ablaze.

He looped around and shot upwards, higher and faster than the giant could follow, watching as the dragon banked slowly and pulled his head back to breathe again.

Although Magmanus had an especially long neck, Joseph knew that flying in that position was uncomfortable, and breathing fire like that was downright foolish. He grinned tightly and tucked his wings, sweeping in for another go, aiming for Magmanus' puny wings this time. Three rapid shots left three smoldering holes in the overstretched membranes. Holes that would rapidly expand.

Again Magmanus breathed, this time Joseph dove straight past his shoulder, easily dodging a feeble swat with one great, but withered forelimb. Magmanus really _had_ let himself go! Although his belly was ample, his skin hung loose on his frame, and his dusky scales lacked the usual luster of the gem eating dragons. The spines on his back were cracked and brittle looking, and his head had been covered in old scars. Too the muscles in his wings were all but gone, and if it wasn't for the great strain being placed upon the membranes, he suspected they'd lost most of their stretch. It's possible he'd been asleep for so long his body had atrophied even as it grew. Being under the shield had probably made things worse.

Joseph pulled up and banked sharply about two hundred feet above the ground then curved off to the north, only popping up once to fire off a less powerful fireball at the behemoth to make sure he was following. Joseph had not gotten a chance to explore the western mountains, but he knew from the maps he'd seen that there were no settlements until the Crystal Cut Valley – and that was hours away.

With collateral damage at a minimum, he now had the challenge of keeping Magmanus's attention until Mooney could get here and do whatever she was going to do.

* * *

Moonstruck found herself in that strangely exciting, yet meditative state she had been drifting in and out of since being "captured" so many months ago. It was the same calm she'd felt the very first time she'd set off dragonslaying. The clarity, the focus, the feeling that she knew she'd walk away from it because it was too absurd not to work.

She'd gotten her cutie mark slaying a dragon, but it wasn't _because_ she'd slayed the dragon. She understood that now. The feeling came about for other things too; spinning intricate webs of lies, narrowly dodging discovery or death with cunning tricks and simple magic used in novel ways - even just sitting down to play cards. But none of that had ever really done it as a filly, it wasn't until she'd used all of that selflessly. Used it for something greater than herself. Only then did her true purpose in life reveal itself. She was a trickster; a gambler with an obscene amount of luck and the power of the cosmos up her sleeves. And right now she was stacking the deck every way she knew how.

She'd gained as much altitude as she dared, keeping a watchful eye on the ash cloud billowing ahead, and the landscape below. Magmanus was plainly visible from thousands of feet in the air, and forty miles away, his great, bloated body a dark slash against the browns and tans of the parched earth. Joseph was not. She wouldn't need to see him to know where he was, however. And as she drew closer, she caught a slight blue-white flash, then Magmanus sprang into action. At least, as close as something so big and slow could spring, that is.

Three more flashes and obvious holes opening up in Magmanus's left wing made her wonder if Joseph could take him out on his own, but she knew that would be something to puzzle out on another day. They needed to bring down Magmanus as quickly as possible, no time for experimental dragonslaying.

She'd use her tried and true method for this one. She slowed as she saw Magmanus turn north, after a faint, fleck of green against the brown and tan landscape. Joseph was silhouetted briefly by a fire burning down below, amazingly close to the larger dragon. Probably to keep his attention, as Joseph didn't strike her as the time to remain in the danger zone of a larger, more powerful dragon without good reason.

Once she was sure the behemoth wouldn't fall over any villages, she stooped into a dive and cast a special shield spell she'd developed years ago. It was a variant on the malleable types that allowed her to alter its shape, but she'd tied it in to the position of her wings. If she kept her wings tucked close to her body, the shield formed a sharp point, forming an arrow that widened around her body then tapered back to a sharp point behind her. That alone added speed to her dive, it also took most of the impact of the wind, making it much easier, and more comfortable to breach the sound barrier.

She honestly wasn't sure how Rainbow Dash could stand doing this _without_ magic – it was risky and difficult enough _with_ magic. Moonstruck opened her wings slightly to adjust course, the shield responding by broadening itself slightly, slowing her as she rolled and selected the point of impact, summoning up a haste spell, but holding off on casting it.

She hadn't used the shield the first time she'd done this. It simply hadn't occurred to her. But after some trial and error, she realized having it there made it infinitely easier. She'd also found some haste spells that she could control the speed of, which allowed her to come at a dragon from nearly any angle, if need be. She'd sweep in from an odd angle, but she was trying to use as little magic as possible to avoid burning out too soon. There was no telling what she might need to do after Magmanus was down.

Joseph sped out over a high valley, dodged a huge column of fire, then looped gracefully back to reply in kind, which clearly disturbed Magmanus no end. Moonstruck grinned tightly then called up his nodestone once he was safely away.

"I'm in position. Get clear." She didn't want him to be caught up in the shockwave.

"Finally!"

She waited for him to jet off towards cover and put a good amount of distance between himself and Magmanus, then cast the haste spell. The world around her began to blur, she felt the shield spell buck and shake under the strain, and pulled her wings in tight against her flanks. The turbulence subsided. She rolled to bring Magmanus's right eye into her sights. Power was flickering weakly around the sharp tip of the shield. She wasn't sure if there'd be a rainboom, but she wasn't going to use the concussive shock of the dive to take him out. Even in his weakened state he might recover from that. He'd take a direct hit. A _piercing_ hit.

There would be only one shot at this, and she'd have to pull up immediately to avoid smashing into the mountains below. Moonstruck let out a long breath, then ramped up the haste spell to full.

The funny thing about sonic rainbooms is that there's no sound when you're the one actually creating it. One moment she was a thousand feet away from the dragon, the next she was practically on top of him. Then there was a brief flicker of darkness, then she snapped her wings open and killed her haste spell, pulling up less than a dozen yards from a ridge. She rode the momentum straight up for a few seconds, then arched her back to curve into an arc, leaving a black, white and red comtrail in her wake.

She grinned as she saw the rainbow arcing away from where she'd broken the sound barrier, spreading out across the land, disrupting the flow of ash from the volcano. Looking back, Magmanus was falling, his right eye gone, blood gushing from the empty socket, and the exit wound towards the back of his skull, and into the air as his wings went slack and his head lolled back. His bloated body sank before the rest of him, and his crooked tail lashed behind like a scaly streamer.

She was moving too fast to check in with Joseph, but she could see him about a mile from Magmanus, towards the south. As she watched a slash of crimson cut in out of nowhere and hit him with a ball of churning flame. She was just at the top of her arc, so she tucked her wings and rolled, ditching the shield spell to avoid going too fast. She didn't dare do another rainboom now – not when she could potentially send Joseph head first into the ground.

No one had said anything about another dragon! This one was long and sinuous, but nowhere near as large as Magmanus. Maybe only twenty or thirty feet from nose to tail, with black feathered wings, mane and tail tuft. Joseph could probably hold his own easily, but he seemed to be having trouble flying. In fact, it looked like he was in pain.

As Moonstruck drew closer, she realized the dragon had a cutie mark. Dragons did not have cutie marks. A green eye with a slitted pupil graced the dragons upper thighs.

Lucena.

Guilty pleasure mingled with righteous rage, and she found herself summoning up the meanest spell she could think of. As soon as she was in range, she shot a bolt of lightening at the transformed alicorn and hit her square in the back, right between her black feathered wings. Lucena let out a mind shattering screech, curled up in a ball, and dropped out of the air. Joseph regained his balance and swept haphazardly towards a nearby plateau.

Moonstruck landed shortly after he set down, looking over her shoulder to make sure Lucena hadn't recovered yet. As weather manipulators, pegasus ponies – and therefore alicorns - couldn't be seriously hurt by lightening, but she'd mixed a pain spell into it, so hopefully Lucena wouldn't be popping up on them anytime soon. By all rights she shouldn't be out here at all – that disruption spell should have kept her out of the fight for a few hours at least.

"Oh geeze, are you okay!?" She panted as she galloped to where Joseph was getting shakily to his feet.

"I think so – what was – was that Lucena!?" He yelped, grimacing and putting one hand on the side of his head.

"Yep!" Although smoke curled from his scales and feathers, he did not appear to be hurt. "Did she try to control you? Is she controlling you now?"

"I… think so? And no. I could sort of hear a voice in my head but it was muddled. Mostly it just hurt!" He shook his head violently. "It still hurts!"

Moonstruck grimaced as well. "I left the willow bark back in the room, sorry!"

He chuckled and opened one eye to squint at her.

A thought struck her, and she pried open her little velvet pouch to pull a random card out of it. She licked it, cast a charm over it, then stuck it to his chest… crop… lower neck area (she still needed to ask about that), just above where the crystal of his necklace rested.

"Here, have a general protection charm – I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"Eww? Why'd you lick it?" He pulled his head back then tilted his muzzle down and to the side to try to see what it was.

"So it'll stay put. Powerful magic." She waved a hoof mysteriously, amused to note that she'd pulled the queen of hearts out of the deck.

He frowned. "Why didn't you just add the spell to the nodestone?"

"No time."

A great red dragon appeared suddenly, heaving over the edge of the plateau and crash landing a short ways away. Electricity arced over her body as she clumsily flapped her wings and struggled to stand. Blood flowed freely from a few lacerations that she'd likely gained when she'd gotten intimately acquainted with the ground.

Lucenas dragon form was furry, instead of scaly, and she still had a single unicorn horn growing out of the middle of her forehead.

She shook her head violently, then turned it to snarl at them, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. Moonstruck found herself grinning tightly as she stepped in front of Joseph. Offing Magmanus was purely business; she had no strong emotions about it as it was merely a necessary evil. But _Lucena_ … she hadn't exactly planned on fighting Lucena, but if she was offering herself up like this Moonstruck was more than happy to beat the old mare to a pulp.

They glared; Lucenas eyes wide and wild. Moonstrucks narrowed and focused. The sky turned red as the sun sank below the clouds, and the ash at last began to fall.

A few final arcs of electricity crawled over Lucenas wings, then she lunged towards them, letting out a truly horrid screech, and breathing a few wispy tongues of flame. Moonstruck bolted one way as Joseph darted in the opposite direction, forcing Lucena to focus on one or the other.

She chose Joseph, directing what was likely another psychic attack at him, but while it was clear it pained him, it couldn't affect him as strongly as before. He breathed a blue-white fireball at her as Moonstruck lunged in on her opposite flank with a close range ice attack. Lucena threw up a dome shield at the last moment, then crouched and sprang into the air.

Moonstruck opened her wings and bounded into the air after her, dimly aware that she'd left a small crater behind her from the force of her jump. The ice spell she'd just used was oddly taxing, so she switched back to lightening, summoning forth another bolt and crashing it hard against Lucenas shield. Thunder rolled ominously off the parched mountains below.

The raw power contained in the bolt caused Lucenas shield to flicker and buckle slightly, causing her to whip her head around, drawing her attention away from Joseph who still wore a pained grimace.

Lucena had largely been hovering in place, but as Moonstruck geared up to strike again, and Joseph maneuvered around for a simultaneous attack on the opposite flank, Lucena hissed and propelled herself forward, between then beyond them and more or less in the direction of Bridle-Dur, moving more quickly than Moosntruck expected her be able to.

Moonstruck threw a glance at Joseph to make sure he was alright, then worked her wings and sped after Lucena, Joseph keeping pace a few lengths to the right to maintain a flanking position.

Lucena winked out of sight. Moonstruck felt a jolt of alarm shoot up her spine, so she hastily threw up a shield spell of her own and rolled to the side as a bright yellow ball of fire blazed through the space she'd just been in, followed swiftly by Lucena. Moonstruck summoned lightening down from the sky once more, but Lucena winked out of sight again.

"This is gonna be a really annoying fight!" Joseph shouted as they searched the skies.

"She's testing us." Moonstruck growled, casting a spell that allowed her to see invisible things and enhancing it as much as she dared. Spells such as this generally had a limited range, as they could become a bit difficult to contain if senses were stretched out too far. The spells embedded in the nodestone essentially projected a bubble for the wearer, but they wouldn't be able to see any invisible object beyond ten feet away that wasn't linked up to another nodestone. This one was much more powerful. There was no sign of Lucena.

"High, or low?" Joseph asked.

"High." Moonstruck grunted narrowing her eyes. She canceled the spell and stared up at the cloud of smoke and ash. Lucena was likely circling high overhead. Out of range of most detection spells. Invisible. Waiting.

"We're smaller than her, better at terrain flying. She can't get the jump on us from below."

"Mmm." Joseph agreed.

"You know what, two can play at this. I'm gonna flush her, stay low, look like you're searching."

Joseph promptly tucked his wings and dove. Moonstruck watched him, waited for him to level off, then cast a multiple mirror illusion, causing his image to splinter and separate off into dozens of images that fanned out over the mountains. Moonstruck gritted her teeth and fed a little bit of that pesky responsive magic into the doppelgangers to allow them to navigate the terrain without her direction, then pulled up sharply. She repeated the spell on herself, and sent her doppelgangers up towards the encroaching ash cloud while she slipped into stealth mode, and leveled off.

Lucena might be able to figure out which Joseph was the real one, she might even be able to figure out that Moonstruck wasn't among the many Moonstrucks patrolling the ash cloud, but she wouldn't be able to figure out where Moonstruck really was.

Hopefully Lucena made her move sooner, than later, she was quite certain she couldn't keep these spells going for more than five or ten minutes – if that.

One of the doppelgangers swerved abruptly to avoid something, drawing Moonstrucks attention upwards. There was nothing for the doppelganger to avoid. Moonstruck grinned tightly and swept towards the patch of sky, watching as another doppelganger swerved a little. It was a bit further left of the first one. Moonstruck glanced down to see what the Joseph doppelgangers were doing, then back up at the ash. Something disturbed the ash overhead, leaving little vortexes on the underside of the cloud. In fact, it left a faint trail. Lucena was flying too close to the clouds, her wings were stirring them up.

Glancing down, Moonstruck found Joseph – the real Joseph - then back up. Sure enough. Lucena was tracking him. She was cautiously avoiding all of the Moonstrucks; whether or not she realized Moonstruck wasn't somewhere among them she couldn't say. It didn't matter now, she had a particularly fun way to blow Lucenas cover, now that she could track her.

Moonstruck swerved around to near where Lucena would be very shortly and forged a stronger link between each of her doppelgangers overhead. She took direct control of them and subtly moved them into a grid pattern around Lucena. The ash cloud overhead was already so charged with static it would take just a little nudge to set everything off. She waited a few moments to be sure Lucena hadn't noticed the change in flight pattern, then arced power from the dopplegangers to the ash cloud above.

The resulting explosion of lightening was so bright she had to shield her eyes, and the subsequent crash of thunder so loud her hearing would be a tad muffled for a few days afterwords. Lucena dropped out of the sky, her invisibility spell overpowered by the blast. Moonstruck canceled the doppelganger spells, and dropped stealth mode as well, since little arcs of electricity were striking her too, thus revealing her location. They didn't bother her much. It was her lightning, after all.

Lucena was pretty well stunned, a shocked (ha!) expression locked on her face as she plummeted. Moonstruck saw Joseph flying up directly beneath her, as she swept into a dive along Lucenas path of decent.

The transformed alicorn jerked suddenly, sucked in a sharp breath, then locked eyes with Moonstruck.

Moonstruck grinned. She never thought Lucena would show fear, but for the barest of moments the shock flickered to a look of sheer terror. Josephs fireball engulfed her a split second later.

Moonstruck rolled right as Joseph shot left. Lucena let out a deafening screech and exploded out of the fireball, crashing into Moonstruck in a flurry of tooth and claw. Not expecting a physical attack, Moonstruck was caught off guard, loosing her balance and plummeting uncontrollably. For a dazed instant she watched blood – her blood – stream into the air above her, then gritted her teeth, rolled so that her nose was towards the ground, tucked her legs tight against her body and opened her wings.

She arched her back, flipped upside down and kicked as hard as she could at the great red snout that was aiming for her spine. She hit Lucena squarely in the jaw, sending her head flying back. Moonstruck dodged out of the way as Joseph swept in and hit Lucena in the spine, right between her wings. Lucena whirled on him, but he was already away, giving Moonstruck time to loop around and drive her shoulder into Lucenas flank.

Lucena twisted, latching talons into her right shoulder. Moonstruck gritted her teeth against the pain and let the heat that had been boiling her blood as of late to do what it pleased. Lucena screeched as lightening, or perhaps just raw concentrated magic arced off of Moonstruck and bored itself into anywhere she was touching Lucena.

Suddenly free of of the claws digging through her shoulder, Moonstruck tucked her wings and dove after Lucena, even though they were recklessly close to the ground now. The transformed alicorn grabbed a dozen or so small rocks from below and hurled them at her pursuers, managing to slice Moonstruck across the left side of her face.

She hissed and turned her head, sure there was a good sized chunk out of her left ear. Moonstruck used the magic disruption spell to break Lucenas hold on the rocks, then pulled her deck of cards out of her pouch, fanned them out, and sent them after Lucena fast enough to cut.

Lucena's telekenisis was wild, but controlled enough to overwhelm a less experienced foe. Managing 51 cards was as easy as breathing for Moonstruck.

Lucena swatted at the cards, sped up, stopped abruptly in a stall, slid to the side, twisted, snarled but she could not shake the cards, nor slake off the onslaught of deep, vexing paper cuts. Finally she spun in a corkscrew pattern and breathed out a plume of red flame, setting the cards alight.

Moonstruck let them go, spotted Joseph in Lucenas blind spot, and drove in for a feint as Lucena sped towards her. Joseph dropped down from above and landed on Lucenas back. He dug his claws into her shoulders, and latched his jaws over her neck.

This time the fear did not last for a scant moment, Lucena was openly terrified, even though Moonstruck was fairly certain Joseph couldn't actually do much damage to the base of Lucenas neck. If he'd grabbed her further up towards her jawline perhaps, but the base of her neck was too thick, and well muscled. It didn't seem to matter, however. The psychological damage was enough.

Lucena teleported away, the jump apparently shorter than anticipated as she faltered in her flight when she realized that Moonstruck and Joseph were still too close for comfort.

"Hold up, I think she's done." Moonstruck grumbled to Joseph as they watched Lucena fly haphazardly away.

"You don't want to finish her off?" Joseph threw her a confused look.

"I don't think we need to." No sooner were the words past Moonstrucks lips did Lucena falter again, and dip towards the ground.

They followed her down to a natural archway that stood between two rocky spires. Lucena landed roughly and let out a screech that made nails on a chalkboard sound like a soothing lullaby. Her limbs shrank, claws reduced and merged to form hooves; her spine compressed, and her tail dissolved into hair. Her mane and tail faded to gray. Not salt and pepper as before, but completely gray. Her coat and wings had faded too, their luster gone.

When her transformation was done, she shakily lifted her head to stare up at them with wide, terrified eyes. Moonstruck was just about to cast her magical disruption spell again to render her completely helpless when Lucena disappeared.

She did not reappear.

"Ugh, how many times can she do that!?" Joseph snarled as they landed on one of the spires.

"Probably not many more." Moonstruck gingerly rolled her right shoulder. She didn't think anything was broken, but she was pretty sure Lucenas claws had hit bone. She hoped it looked worse than it actually was.

"She's gotta be about tapped out. I'm sure my head's gonna start killing me anytime now."

Joseph frowned.

"I think I can just get that westernmost nodestone. I'll teleport us back to the edge of town, then you should go help Max. I think I know where she went."

"Will you be alright by yourself? Your shoulder's a mess." Max frowned and inclined his snout towards her right shoulder, his face falling into a deeper frown as he watched her blood trail down her leg to pool around her right front hoof.

"Yeah, I'll be alright." Moonstruck coughed and squinted up at the descending ash cloud. In a few minutes this stretch of real estate would probably be socked in.

"Alright, we need to get you out of the ash before it gets any worse." Joseph grunted, shuffling closer.

"Heh, yeah." Moonstruck grinned. She was only mildly surprised Joseph wasn't coughing, but he _was_ a dragon. He probably wasn't particularly bothered by this sort of stuff. She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, searching the area to the south and east for a familiar glimmer of magic. After a minute she could just sense it at the very edge of her range.

"Okay, off we go."

* * *

"Lady Glenda, this way!"

Glenda spun as one of the military ponies slid to a stop a few feet away. He saluted smartly, then turned and looked back, waiting for her to follow.

She shook her head and trotted after him, down through a tangle of wires, and half fallen walls. The biggest obstacle they were facing thus far wasn't the crumbling city, nor the river that was quickly climbing out of its banks. It was that no one trusted the military ponies enough to follow them. She couldn't blame them, no one knew the 7th division was actually not horrible. Luckily, having free pegasus among them – especially leading them seemed to dispel much of the fear. Hence her current dubious command of team eight. The ponies in the unit had dubbed her _Lady_ Glenda, something she was more than a little amused by.

The young stallion pushed a large chunk of concrete aside for her then gestured ahead.

"They're holed up in there, we can't get them to come out."

She nodded, then wriggled under a few half fallen beams.

"Hello? Please don't be afraid, we're here to help!" She pushed through a few dusty rags and emerged in a truly tragic hovel. A family of earth ponies huddled in the corner, most of their meager possessions were strewn across the floor from the earthquakes, and their roof was set to cave in at any moment. They gaped at her when they saw she was a pegasus – and an old one at that.

"Come, come! They can't hold your roof up much longer, you must come out! We have healers, clean water, and transport waiting!"

"What's going on?" An older filly asked.

"Magmanus is on his way, but we're trying to evacuate as many ponies as we can."

"If he's on his way, there's no point!" The pony she assumed was fillies father barked.

"He's being dealt with. But the river will still flood, and your home will still collapse." Glenda said firmly, fixing him with an authoritative stare.

The ponies exchanged glances with one another, then reluctantly left their corner. Glenda brought up the rear as they filed out into the darkening daylight as the cloud of ash began to thicken over the sun.

The medics rushed over as soon as they were clear of the rubble, and the trio of unicorns let go of the roof of the building, letting it collapse inwards. The family spun around, surprised to see that unicorns actually had been keeping them from being crushed.

A flurry of excited chatter echoed over the nodestone network and the radio headset Glenda wore, prompting her to look up. It had been ages since she'd seen a rainbow, and she'd never seen one roll across the sky like that! She blinked a few times, doubting her eyes, but it continued across the sky, disrupting the ash cloud, and spreading a wave of awe and confusion in its wake.

"What was that!?"

"It's been years since I've seen a rainbow!"

"What's a rainbow?"

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"Pretty!"

"A… sonic rainboom? But that's impossible..." The last one was Kyrenai. She stood a few paces away, eyes turned upwards.

"I assume that's Mooney's doing." Glenda grunted as a few more mentions of a sonic rainboom echoed around the nodestone network. "Seems like her style."

"Mooney?" Kyrenai gave her a confused look.

"That's what we call her. You'll probably have to address her as Princess Moonstruck, when she gets back." Glenda smirked.

"The duchess." Kyrenai furrowed her brow. "That… makes sense."

"I don't really know how it works." Glenda shrugged then stepped past her to climb to the top of a pile of rubble. Her team had a dozen ponies in it, plus Kyrenai who'd been hoofed off to her because the others felt she'd be able to manage the sullen wizard better than others for some reason. She supposed she was more patient, but Kyrenai was basically an empty husk who did what she was told. This was the first she'd spoken beyond a quiet "yes ma'am" in the time they'd been digging ponies out of the rubble.

They were already treating the family of earth ponies, and another portion of the team was pulling a few grateful unicorns out of the debris a short ways away. Their troop transport was parked between the two sites. She turned her head towards the river, noted that it had climbed a little further already. It was amazing to think that just this morning they didn't have enough water, but soon they'd have too much. Ash laden, muddy, debris filled, noxious water, unfortunately. She'd never seen a volcanic eruption, so the others had to explain what a lahar was to her; basically a big, nasty, dangerous mud slide. It made her glad she hadn't been caught in one. Of course, she was about to get a front row seat for a good sized one, if the experts were correct.

As she watched, a deer floated to the surface, its limbs stiff and its neck held at an awkward angle. She was surprised anything that big had been living in the mountains, much less close enough to town to be caught in the river mere minutes after the eruption started.

There was another excited flurry of chatter over the nodestone network, echoed a moment later on the radio. Then Max's voice cut in, drowning out all other voices.

"Magmanus is down! I repeat! Magmanus is down!"

Cheers erupted over the networks and all around as ponies got the good news. Glenda grinned and glanced down just in time to watch Kyrenai turn and gaze dumbfoundedly to the west, and the erupting volcano.

"I call dibs on the carcass!" That had to be Geode.

"Geode! Tact!" Lindsey yelped

"What!? I can't let a specimen like that go to waste! I hope the princess didn't mangle him too badly!"

" _Geode!_ Max is on this line!"

"So?"

"It's alright, I'm not, ah, emotionally attached to my father." Max said hesitantly. "I rather dreaded meeting him, actually."

"See, it's perfectly fine!" Geode chortled.

"Fine, whatever."

Glenda chuckled and went back to inspecting the immediate area. Pegasus flitted overhead, some acting as scouts, others pulling flying wagons for speedier transport. In among them were a wide array of flying machines, most commandeered from the tower, some from the 7th division. They had teams covering as much of the city as they could, and the fire brigade had been absolutely ecstatic when several thousand ponies began showing up to help – including pegasus, whom they'd been completely without for centuries.

The fire brigades were about the only city service that did anything useful, it seemed. She was mildly surprised Max didn't try to recruit them for the rebellion, but it was possible he feared that Lucena might do to them what she did to the tower staff.

She shuddered at the thought of the galleries full of corpses. She was no stranger to death, but such disregard for life was an alien and thoroughly disturbing concept to her. Pushing the thought aside, she opened her wings and crouched down.

"Come along Kyrenai, we should go check on the other half of the group."

"Yes ma'am." Kyrenai grunted mechanically.

Glenda shook her head then sprang lightly into the air, spreading her wings to glide a short distance above the rubble, and slowly enough for Kyrenai to keep up. With Magmanus gone, the city would not be burnt to the ground, but they still had an erupting volcano in their back yard, and all the complications that came with it. It would be a long couple of days.

* * *

Some distance away in Upriver, Max settled to the top of a building to watch a heavy crane move concrete blocks into place along the banks of the river. The nodestone and radio networks were buzzing with thousands of voices, but he paid them little mind. They needed to fortify this neighborhood, then demolish much of the levees surrounding Rose Lake to let the lahars spread into the slum, which should slow them somewhat before they continued down river to even lower lying areas that were more densely populated. It helped that much of Rose Lake was a park, and that the buildings surrounding it were so bad that few ponies actually lived in the area, and were proving fairly easy to evacuate. He had several teams clearing the district, and shoring up the downstream side of the area in preparation. The spotters they'd sent upstream said they had less than an hour before the wave hit.

Another small earthquake rattled the city, prompting him to pick up his hooves a little with the unpleasant shaking. The Dragon Mount had always been a quiet volcano, aside from a few vents on the northwest slopes, so all of this activity was alien to he and most everypony born in the last fifty years – which was the last time the mountain stirred. Or Magmanus stirred, he really wasn't sure how volcanoes with dragons sleeping in them worked.

The cranes and workers below paused for the quake, then did a quick equipment check before continuing. Max smiled to himself, glad to see that even in such a dire situation they were proceeding as safely as possible. There would be no loss of life do to carelessness on his watch!

"Max! We need you in Rose Lake ASAP!" Lindsey barked over the nodestone network.

Max started then spun southwards. "I'll be right there. Buster, did you get all that?"

"Yup. We're good here!" Buster replied from somewhere down near the cranes.

"Good." Max broke into a trot, then launched himself off the building, spreading his leathery wings, then working them to gain altitude and speed.

"I'm on my way, what's the problem?"

"A fissure opened up in the center of the park. The shrine keeper's at the bottom, trapped under the statue of Rosalina. She's alright, but we can't get to her, and we can't get close enough to the fissure to lift the statue."

"Right." They needed a flier with magic. A lot of magic. "I assume you want me to lift the statue?"

"If you can. We think we can slip her out and into a harness before the whole thing caves in, but there's no point if we can't lift the statue."

"Understood."

He sped over the city, leaving Upriver, and the river itself behind as he took a direct route to Rose Lake, passing over slumping buildings, and cracked streets, and a few scattered teams of rescuers attempting to either direct ponies to teleportation points, or dig ponies out. The massive tangle of the rose garden came into view, a troop transport hovered in its center. It was populated by firefighters, one was in a harness dangling below the transport, while a second, empty harness was being lowered next to him. Max was impressed with the pilot, she kept the transport absolutely steady and, he assumed, precisely poised over the pony trapped below.

"Okay, where do you want me?" He asked as he swept over the clearing. The ponies on the ground were giving the fissure a wide berth, and he couldn't blame them. The parched earth was clearly loose near the edge of the fissure, anything could cause it to crumble at any moment.

"Where Lilly is hovering." Lindsey supplied.

Lilly was a predominately white pegasus with three brown socks and a brown patch over her right eye. She waved him over.

He curved around to hover next to her.

"Lady Rosa is right there." She pointed to a mound of dust that moved a little while they watched. "The unicorns think they can keep the walls from caving in for a few seconds, once the statue is out, but we don't have enough to move the statue _and_ keep the walls from caving in."

Max nodded. He flicked his eyes over the statue, wishing he was advanced enough to teleport other ponies from a distance. He knew the nodestones would let anyone grab hold of another pony to teleport them as well, but it was clear putting anyone else down there was exceedingly dangerous. Just lowering the pony in the harness was bad enough. Wait….

"Hold up! Can we get someone with a nodestone in the harness instead?" He asked.

"Why?" Lindsey asked.

"Why lift her out when we can teleport her out?"

"That's – yeah that would be way faster. Uh… Sergeant, we need to get a historical society unicorn in the harness."

Max, apparently did not have the firefighters frequency. He watched as one of the ponies on the transport turned to look at him, then tilted his head to the side as Linsdey explained the plan. He nodded, then gestured for the dangling unicorn to be brought up. Lindsey trotted out to be picked up. Max grimaced, but figured a smaller pony was probably a better choice. Less likely to bump into the oh-so fragile walls when being lowered down. She was quick on the spell casting too, since she'd had a nodestone longer than anyone else in the historical society.

"Where will you go?" Max asked.

"Over to Fern, she's running the medical tent a few blocks west."

"Good call." Max nodded, impressed. One of the things that did bother him about this was that they had so many ponies to keep track of that he didn't actually know where everyone was at any given moment. He'd _almost_ stayed in the command center to keep track of everyone, but he was needed out here more. He was grateful, however, that all of his team leaders were absolutely on the ball so he didn't really _need_ to know where everyone was. Even the 7th division was running smoothly and that usually required more micro-managing than even _he_ liked to get in to.

With the firefighter back on board, the transport swooped over to where Linsdey was waiting and paused just long enough for her to hop on board. They set about strapping her into the harness as the transport moved back into position. By the time the pilot had it back in place, Lindsey was ready to go. They carefully lowered her over the side.

"Your Highness, this is Sergeant Quill. Can you lift the statue?"

"Stars I hope so!" Max laughed nervously. "I've never tried lifting anything this big!"

He scowled and hoped that all of that pulling he and Moonstruck did somehow translated to telekenetic strength. He was confident he could move it were it on a wagon – or even a sledge.

"Having his best friend down there should help." Lindsey quipped.

Max threw her a look, then focused on the statue, waiting for the signal as he sent his senses running over it, trying to gauge how much effort it would take to move, and whether or not it was broken in such a way that the pieces might fall back before he had a chance to catch them.

"Okay, hold still, we're gonna move the statue, then I need to get a leg around you to teleport out." Lindsey said to the trapped pony. Max could not hear a reply.

"We have a work-around, don't worry."

"In position!"

Max went from carefully probing the statue to grabbing hold of it with his magic, he could see unicorns in the safety zone lowering their heads to cast their spells to steady the fissure walls. Letting out a breath, he scowled and carefully started to lift the statue, more than a little surprised when it began to rise slowly and steadily. One inch, two inches, three – dirt began to fall around the statue, but not enough to cause everything to collapse. Four inches, six, eight, ten. Lindsey wiggled forward and put both front hooves on the unicorns shoulders. They disappeared.

"They're clear!" Sergeant Quill shouted.

Max let the statue drop as the unicorns below canceled their spells as well. A cheer went up around the rescuers as the fissure caved in.

"You two alright?" Max asked, wiping sweat from his brow and pulling up a bit to avoid the dust cloud that billowed out of the fissure.

"Just a little dusty!" Lindsey replied. "Come on over, she wants to meet you!"

"I suppose I can spare a moment." Max glanced up to where he assumed the medical tent was.

"Excellent work!" He said to everyone.

"Thank you for your help, Your Highness." The firefighters bowed to him. For some reason it felt strange now.

"No need for that, we're all in this together." He blurted, mildly surprised at his own words. Perhaps Moonstrucks casual attitude and distaste for decorum were rubbing off on him.

They straightened up out of their bows then shuffled awkwardly.

"Anyway I should… yes. Ahem. Thank you." Max grimaced then dropped out of the hover, made a tight loop, and sped off to the west to locate the medical tent.

It was not difficult to find; a good sized white tent in the middle of a street, surrounded by half-fallen buildings. It was thankfully not particularly busy. The medical tents in the city were more for triage and serious emergencies. Most everypony who went through them were being channeled out to the eastern foothills where all of the evacuees were gathering, and more time and care could be spent on them.

Max landed next to the tent, then ducked inside, heartened to see that while the ponies within were injured, they were being quickly and efficiently patched up enough to move to the teleportation pad outside. The mare they'd just rescued was standing off to the side as two unicorns helped her wash her face, and brush the worst of the dust out of her fur. He had heard of the shrine keeper before, although he had never had the pleasure of meeting her.

"Oh, here he comes. Lady Rosa, this is Max, he lifted the statue."

"You're so casual with the prince, Lindsey!" The old unicorn chided playfully, she toweled off her face herself, then turned her blind eyes towards him.

"Well met, milady. I am honored to finally meet you. I have heard many tales of your wisdom and charity." Max sketched a short bow, even though she couldn't see it.

"Oh! It… actually is the prince." Lady Rosa went pale beneath the remaining mud and dust on her face.

"Who were you expecting?" Lindsey laughed.

"A powerful, but generous unicorn, I suppose." Rosa shook her head. "I've been told that Magmanus is dead."

"He is. We have visual confirmation. Princess Moonstruck should be back at any time." Max nodded.

" _Princess Moonstruck_." Lady Rosa repeated softly. "Ah, now that makes some sense. There are few ponies in this country that can go about all but undetected. Even your lot made a bunch of noise while invisible. But that one…"

She smiled. "I guessed she was there, one night. But I couldn't say for sure."

"You've met Mooney?" Lindsey quirked a brow.

"No. A phantom came 'round one night. I couldn't tell what she was looking for, or why she'd paid a visit, but I offered up solace all the same. All are welcome, of course. It took me a while to realize it was a foreigner. There are even fewer foreigners in this country than those powerful enough to become a phantom, and they happen to overlap."

Max grinned. He'd heard of Lady Rosas supernatural ability to know when someone was poking around in her grove no matter how softly they trod. She was also known for being able to pick up on why they'd come around in the first place. Many suspected she could hear a ponies troubles from a mile off.

"Oh, she was exploring. And she left a nodestone in the brambles." Lindsey supplied helpfully. "You probably heard us coming and going from there after she joined forces with us."

"Yes. A joyful lot is highly unusual, these days." Rosa chuckled, then turned to Max. "You, young stallion, need to get back to managing this mess."

Max raised his eyebrows. "Is there something I should know?"

"You will soon enough. Now, if someone could direct me to the line to get out of here, I'd like to be long gone before the lahars hit."

"You and me both. This way." Lindsey shook her head and chuckled.

"Catch you later." Max nodded to Lindsey, whom nodded back.

He nodded to Fern as well as he trotted out of the tent, realizing belatedly that many of the townsponies had cowered in fear when he'd wandered in, and were still cowering. He'd been so focused on Lady Rosa that he'd forgotten that most of the ponies around were not in the historical society. He ducked his head then hurried out of the tent, taking wing as soon as he was clear.

He never cared for it when ponies feared him, but right now it seemed to sting especially bad. Perhaps it was because he wasn't in character. No, that was _exactly_ it – it was the same with the firefighters earlier. Prince Maximus was someone to be feared and respected, _Max_ was not. Max was just trying to see to it that everyone got out of this alive. There was no need to bow to Max, much less fear him. And perhaps that was why Moonstruck didn't like it either, why she downplayed her abilities, her status.

"Max! The wave's coming – about five miles upstream!" Buster's voice cut in to his thoughts.

"How are the retaining walls?" He sped up, heading back to Upriver.

"Just finished them. Was just told Rose Lake is ready, and Cypress Downs is about 95% cleared, though they're having trouble with the levees and downstream shoring. We're already pulling out!"

"Good. Be careful! Do you need me for anything?"

"No we've got it."

"Alright, I'll go check on Glenda, then head out to Dirtton."

"Sounds good."

He resisted the urge to go double check the Upriver neighborhood and curved around to head northeast to Cypress Downs. Upriver was one of the first neighborhoods they'd cleared precisely because it was the first neighborhood the river encountered, so even if shoring up the riverbed failed no one would be hurt. He hoped.

* * *

A/N: I had a lot of fun researching volcano stuff, and how emergency responders deal with the various complications involved. Apparently you can't stop lahars, but you can redirect them.


	38. Chapter 37

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

The pain between Moonstrucks ears deepened as they popped onto the top of a convenience store at the far end of Westton, which was something of a shallow box canyon between the mountains, and a low chain of hills that ran north to south, eventually meeting up with the east-west hills that ran along Crystal Creek. The ash was not falling here yet, for which she was grateful.

Moonstruck let out a breath and stared up at the tower, not surprised to see that the eye was gone. She was too far away to see if anyone was up there yet. The rest of the city was in rough shape, black smoke billowed out of numerous neighborhoods. Westton looked to be largely intact, and many ponies were milling around in fear and confusion, but not outright panic. She vaguely recalled this area hadn't been subject to Lucenas haphazard urban planning, so they were in decent shape.

"You okay?" Joseph asked, startling her out of her brief inspection of the immediate area.

"Yeah, shoulder hurts, ear stings, head hurts – you know the drill." She smiled tightly at him.

"Maybe I should come with you." He frowned.

"It's alright, I can always call for help." Moonstruck shook her head. "I dunno how much that protection charm can take, to be honest."

Joseph's frown turned into a scowl.

"Go, I'll be fine." She nudged him with her wing.

Joseph sighed heavily, then reluctantly teleported away.

Moonstruck teleported back to their apartment. She hobbled into the bathroom for a first aid kit, and took some willow bark in pill form, then frowned down at the trail of blood she was leaving behind. Making a mental note to find a mop later, she limped out to the balcony, then slipped into stealth mode. She took wing, flew out beyond the alcove her balcony rested in, then swept around to circle the tower, gradually gaining altitude to spiral up to the top.

Now that she was in the heart of the city she could get a better idea of how much damage they had to deal with. It didn't look bad, all things considered; no mass panic, lots of pegasus and flying machines buzzing around moving ponies and equipment, or scouting and spotting for ground crews. She'd enchanted an entire fleet of wagons, and she was thrilled to see that they were gliding along precisely the way they should, not sagging weirdly the way the Roanamian flying carriages often were with their weak and faulty spells.

Moonstruck reached the top of the tower, confirmed that Lucena hadn't appeared yet, then continued circling, spiraling up to about three hundred feet over the tower. Just as she'd settled into a flat glide, Lucena popped into view. She shuffled over to the great crystal embedded in the center of a very complex transmutation circle etched into the platform, leaving a trail of bloody hoofprints. She kicked the crystal. It didn't do anything.

Moonstruck canceled her spells, then tucked her wings and tilted her nose forward, dropping into a steep dive. She opened her wings and pulled up just ten feet above the platform, buffeting Lucena with the wind off her wings before settling lightly onto the crystal, causing her to fall and slide partway across the platform.

"USURPER!" She screamed, scrambling to her hooves and firing off a magical blast.

Moonstruck calmly projected a shield and began dabbing at the gash on her shoulder with a clean, damp cloth.

"Oh give it up, you're out of power! Ow."

"You killed him! You killed my love!" Lucena fired again. This time the spell was so weak Moonstruck didn't even bother blocking it. It tingled a little when it hit her.

"Yeah, and?"

Lucena let out a guttural snarl and fired again. The spell fizzled out half way.

"Why… why isn't it working? Why am I stuck in this wretched form? Why isn't everyone panicking? WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?"

Lucenas knees were weak, she shook, was practically cowering. It looked like the bite on the back of her neck was more serious in her natural form, though the gashes on her flanks seemed more shallow, and she was covered in fine paper cuts. Moonstruck didn't really know how injuries sustained while transformed translated to ones natural state, so it was a little fascinating to see where all of the wounds ended up.

Moonstruck lifted an eyebrow and unrolled some gauze. "Well lets see. You're out of power. No seriously, you're out of power. There's a massive evacuation effort underway, and because alicorns are notoriously durable, as you well know."

"Those were rhetorical questions!" Lucena snarled.

"That I happened to have answers to."

"And I'm not out of power!" Lucena stamped a hoof.

"Of course you are. You know what the shield does." Moonstruck rolled her eyes.

"Like you know." She scoffed.

"Yeah, actually." Moonstruck chortled. She folded up a piece of dry cloth, held it firmly against her shoulder, then began wrapping gauze around and around, barely sparing a glance at Lucena as she did so.

"You've been living under it the longest – of course you'd run out of power eventually. You know we need to recharge just like anypony else, and with the country cut off, and the shield actively using up all of the ambient magic you haven't really been able to do it. And – heck – I bet Magmanus had the same problem. That's why he was so easy to kill."

"I knew it. I knew you weren't what you seemed!" Lucena spat.

"Pfff, no you didn't, you thought I was an airhead." Moonstruck laughed, then regretted it. That willow bark could kick in anytime now. She wasn't using much magic, but the pressure was starting to feel like she was juggling boulders. She blinked a few times as she thought she was hallucinating a rainbow on the horizon. On every horizon.

"Oh hardly! I knew all along you were up to something." Lucena finally straightened up out of her crouch and threw her head back arrogantly. "I just wanted to see what you did when I uncovered Maximus's plot."

"Didn't figure I'd be in on it." Moonstruck grunted. She finished wrapping her shoulder, then realized she still had extra rolls of gauze and bandages. She rolled them over to Lucena.

"Oh please, Maximus can't strategize himself out of a paper bag! You clearly used his silly plot as cover!" Lucena said before she gave the roll of gauze a strange look as it came to a stop at her hooves. The bandages wobbled and flopped over a short distance away.

"What's this for?"

"You're bleeding all over the place." Moonstruck drawled. "And for the record, _my_ plot was to get out of here as soon as possible. We got pulled into Max's plot after I rescued that pony you tried to sacrifice, and you blew up Windmare Bay for funzies."

Lucena sneered at the gauze and kicked it off the tower. "You didn't rescue anyone. I was there for the exam, the pony was very much dead."

"The pony was very much an enchanted sheep carcass Swiftclaw happened to have on him when I teleported the pony away." Moosntruck snorted a laugh. "Pulled that one off right under everyone's noses." She was still a little proud of herself for that.

"Impossible!"

"Difficult, but not impossible. Her names Lindsey. Turns out she's Max's second in command." Moonstruck dabbed at her forehead with a fresh cloth. Oddly enough _that_ wound had stopped bleeding. Usually even minor head wounds bled for an inordinate amount of time.

" _Max_ , my aren't we familiar!" Lucena sneered, then glanced to the side. She turned her eyes back to Moonstruck and curled her lip up in disgust.

"I _suppose_ with a little tart like you around to give him ideas he could _theoretically_ come up with a half decent plan to overthrow me."

Moonstruck lifted a brow. She'd been called a lot of things in her time, but _little tart_ was a first. She'd be amused by it, if her headache wasn't escalating. It was starting to feel like she had a head cold, going by the pressure in her ears, and the way her voice echoed oddly to her. The rainbow was getting closer.

"He's been planning this for years, you know. Mostly he just needed someone with a full arsenal of spells and enough magic to cast them." And the confidence to actually put plans into action, but Lucena didn't need to know that.

"Oh please. He might make plans, but he'd never have the guts to overthrow me properly. He's always been a disappointment." Lucena rolled her eyes.

Moonstruck gave her an odd look. Did she… actually _want_ Max to take the throne for himself? Lucena glanced out again, fixing her gaze on the horizon.

"Oh good, you can see it too." Moonstruck grimaced. She shook her head, but it did nothing to stop the pain, nor the pressure. In fact, it seemed to cause a strange buzzing.

"See what? There's nothing out there." Lucena snapped, glaring at Moonstruck.

"Can you feel that? I wonder if that's the rainboom coming back after it bounced off the shield. Oh yeah, where is the power source above ground? We still haven't figured that part out yet. Found the underground version." If her ears didn't pop soon she was pretty sure her head was going to explode.

"Ha! Why would I tell you that?"

"I dunno, it was worth a shot. Augh!" She closed her eyes and massaged one temple with her good hoof. "Seriously, you've got to be able to feel that!"

"I feel nothing!" Lucena hissed, but she was grimacing as well. "There's nothing to feel! The past is in the past!"

Moonstruck very much wished she could send her eyebrows as high as they could go, but the pain was so bad she couldn't budge them out of the grimace she currently wore. Lucena was sweating, shaking, panting a little… Moonstruck was tempted to offer her a paper bag to hyperventilate in to. She reluctantly lifted her gaze higher. The rainbow was practically on them, and she realized that sitting up on the tower like this might actually be the worst place to be in a few seconds. Unfortunately, she was in too much pain to move.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Lucena shrieked as the ring of multicolored light converged on the tower.

When it hit, it all made sense. It was the first cool breath of autumn after a long hot summer, and the first truly warm day of early spring. It was laughter and it was serenity, and it smelled of the forest, and the sea, and honeysuckle, and fresh green moss. It washed over Moonstruck in a gentle wave, and a stiff breeze that ruffled her mane and tail. And when it passed it took the pain in her head, and a hundred other little aches she'd grown so used to in her time in Roanamia she didn't notice them anymore.

Moonstruck laughed as the wind died down, then breathed in the fresh, deliciously cool air. She opened her eyes and stared straight up into a clear sky now free of smog, and ash. She turned to look back to the west. Not only was the ash cloud completely gone, the volcano was quiet, say for a bit of lava trickling down the side of the somewhat diminished mountain. A mountain she could see with amazing clarity now that the air had been scrubbed clean.

"Magic's back!" She laughed again, stamping her good hoof on the crystal. "Max said the ancients told him the shield was already weak, and just needed a little nudge – I bet the rainboom brought it down! Wow I feel better!"

"No… NOOOOOOOOO!"

She shifted her gaze over to Lucena, then did a double take. The magic had not been kind to the old alicorn, whom was an alicorn no more. An ancient pony with a faded red coat, no cutie mark, and an iron gray mane and tail was crouched where Lucena had been mere moments before. The pony, had no horn, no wings, and no aura of strength about her. She turned her yellow eyes to Moonstruck and shook her head in a strange, jerky motion.

"How… why… why am I being punished!? Y-you lied! You cheated! You _killed_!"

"Pretty sure I stole something too, but I can't remember what." Moonstruck half closed her eyes.

"It isn't fair!" Lucena wailed, then collapsed on her rump when a violent cough shook her fragile frame. The cough subsided after a few moments, then she went back to glaring.

"You did everything I did! Everything!"

"Pff, hardly. For one thing, your body count is _way_ higher. For another, I didn't do any of it for myself." Moonstruck rolled her eyes. "You know why I did all that? So that other ponies wouldn't get hurt. Everything _you_ did, everyone _you_ hurt or killed was for you and only you."

Lucena growled, seemed about to reply, then whipped around to glare at something behind her.

"SHUT UP NADIA! I DON'T NEED TO HEAR IT FROM YOU TOO!"

Moonstruck frowned.

Lucena began to cough again, it was a deep, rattling cough that was concerning even in such a horrible old mare. Moonstruck pulled her ears back then gazed out over the city. There'd been a few fires burning here and there from the earthquakes, but they looked like they'd been blown out when the magic came back. Although there was still a flurry of activity, and she could see that the lahar had made it to Dirtton, it was oddly peaceful down there.

With the pain in her head gone, she realized how tired she was. Not just from the fight. From months of low-grade pain, of sleep deprivation, and all of the horrors she'd seen – horrors that were barely scratching the surface for the ponies whom had lived their entire lives here. Heaving a sigh, she linked her nodestones up to the main network and settled in to babysit Lucena for a while. If someone needed her they could always call.

* * *

"Need me anywhere?" Max asked as he surveyed the city, searching the wreckage below for Glenda.

"We just cleared the last pony – we hope – and they just opened the flood gates." Glenda replied as he spotted her gliding a short distance away.

"Good timing, the lahar should be hitting Upriver at any moment."

"That's what I hear. Where to next?"

"Dirtton. They still have a lot of ground to cover, and not enough time to cover it."

"Right. Are we doing anything about the neighborhoods further downstream?"

"There's not much we _can_ do." Max frowned as he curved towards the northwest. "At least as far as flooding. Once Rose Lake and Cypress Downs are full it should slow things enough that Dirtton shouldn't be hit too hard. From there we can only stay out of its way."

"I was afraid of that."

"Has anyone been able to warn ponies further downstream? I know no one lives by the river when it cuts through Roanham, but what about Banks and Petalburg?" That would be Fern. "Or Jewel Crest in the delta?"

"Good question!" Max furrowed his brow and watched the river continue to rise below him. No one was entirely sure how far the lahars would reach. Bridle-Dur had historically taken the brunt of it, being so close to the volcano, but points further downstream had a more mixed bag. Sometimes the ash and debris flows made it all the way to the coast, others they fizzled out in the floodplains a short ways outside town. Mother had unfortunately decommissioned all of their volcano warning systems eons ago, not long after she started threatening to summon Magmanus as punishment for various things. That was probably around the time she started messing up the cities layout, making it impossible to escape from quickly or easily. It its present state, Bridle-Dur was very much a death trap. He was very glad they'd found ways around that.

"Oh wait..." He tapped his radio headset. "General Markus, have you heard anything from villages downstream?"

"Your Highness! Uh… yes, actually, Banks radioed in shortly after you sent us off. They couldn't get ahold of anyone at central, and had been trying any frequency they could. We told them to get to high ground… was… was that right?"

"Yes! Perfect! Thank you!" Max sagged with relief. "What about Petalburg?"

"Er… I believe we contacted them shortly after. They said they would relay the message downstream."

"Fantastic!"

Dirtton came into view a few wingbeats later. The damage there was bad, and that's where much of the 7th division was focusing their efforts. He could see a number of large cranes moving blocks of stone and concrete either to shore up an area, or dig something out. Too, there were hundreds of ponies crawling among the crumbled buildings. Every few seconds there would be scattered flashes as ponies teleported away.

"Wenchell, status report."

"So far so good. We have the area immediately around the river cleared, but we're having trouble with the core of the neighborhood. Six buildings came down and there are a _lot_ of ponies trapped in there.

"Is my apartment okay?" Geode piped from wherever she was. Hopefully somewhere in the command center.

"I have no idea." Wenchell sighed.

"I always figured I'd be home when this happened." She chirped.

"Yes, we know. Crushed under books."

"Heehee!"

Max smiled as he spotted Wenchell standing on top of a building with a big pair of binoculars. He tucked his wings and dipped into a shallow dive. He landed next to the unicorn and did his best not to kick up too much dust.

Wenchell glanced back at him then pointed at a mountain of rubble ahead.

"That's the problem spot."

Max grimaced. "Any estimate on how many survivors?"

"No. We keep finding ponies alive, but we don't know how many were in there when it came down, so..." he grimaced as well.

"Right."

"Rose Lake team, reporting in." Lindsey said over the nodestone network. "We've got three cranes ready to unpack."

"Awesome, come around to Glide Street, we're trying to move the rubble from some ruins over to shore up some area around, er… the ruins. Well, you'll see."

"Creating an island?"

"Yeah. That."

"Is that Joseph?"

Max and Wenchell looked up. Sure enough, Joseph was gliding in swiftly from the west.

"Joseph, do you copy?" Wenchell asked.

"Yes. Been having trouble with the communication node." Joseph grunted his voice a bit distorted. He spotted them and angled towards them.

"I think Mooney's trick with the rainboom messed it up a little."

"Where _is_ Moonstruck?" Max asked, more than a little worried that they didn't return together.

Joseph landed a few moments later. He had a few cuts and bruises, and his tail feathers were singed and curled slightly at the tips, but otherwise seemed fine.

"Lucena jumped us and -"

"WHAT!?" Max yelped, fear racing up his spine so fast he was surprised his head didn't pop clean off.

"It's alright, we double teamed her. She got her rump handed to her." Joseph held his hands up palms out. "She teleported away when she realized she couldn't win. Mooney went after her."

Max scowled so hard it hurt.

"Did you know she could transform into a dragon?"

Max's scowl dropped off his face. "No! Did she attack you like that!?"

"Yep."

"I'm sorry!"

"Hey, if you didn't know, you didn't know." Joseph shrugged. "Anyone seen Glenda? I think the range on this thing has been reduced." He tapped the earring he wore with one talon, then stood up tall to scan the area around the building they were on.

"She should be here any moment."

"Oh, there she is." Joseph pointed off to the southeast. He waved. She tilted a wing and swept towards them, leaving her team to continue on into Dirtton ahead of her.

Max was perpetually surprised by how graceful a flier she was. Her age could not be determined by the way she flew; from a distance she seemed a pony in her prime.

"Max, you still up with Wenchell?" Lindsey asked as Glenda settled to a landing a short distance away.

"Yes."

"We need you down here. Got some heavy lifting."

"Coming." He relayed the message to Wenchell, nodded respectfully to Glenda, then teleported down to where Lindsey was.

"The lahar's in Upriver, moving fast. It should be in Rose Lake in another minute or two." Buster informed them over the nodestone network.

"No pressure." Max grinned at Lindsey. She grinned back.

"The walls are holding up well so far!" Buster added.

That was certainly good to hear. Lindsey and the original Dirtton team directed him where to go, and he was soon pulling two ton chunks of concrete out of the rubble with magic. He couldn't levitate them very far, or very high, but it was enough to either let ponies escape, or let rescue crews in to the labyrinth within the collapsed buildings to search for survivors. The cranes could lift much larger blocks, but they were far less mobile than he was. He was not sure how long they dug, and searched, and held beams in place while ponies darted under them, and they all waited for the lahars to catch up with them. It seemed like ages, and his head started to hurt part way through. He did his best to ignore it and continue working, but by the time they did get the final warning and had to retreat to high ground, it was nearly impossible to ignore any longer and he was firmly convinced it was a pressure headache of the sort that can spring up around a thunder storm.

"Do you feel that?" He asked Lindsey as they retreated to the top of one of the few apartment buildings that still stood. It had probably been a fairly nice place once, with a sliding glass door that opened up into a rooftop patio that looked like it had doubled as a garden at some point. Now it was mostly scorched concrete and cracked doors, with a few broken bits of pottery strewn around inside large stone planters.

"Feel what?" Lindsey gave him a quizzical look. "Are you okay?"

"No! My head feels horrible! I wish my ears would pop!" He pulled a water bottle out of his saddlebag and took a long pull of it in hopes that it would help. It did not. He worked his jaw around a little. Still no.

"Whoa, here it comes!" Lindsey trotted over to the eastern edge of the building and propped her front hooves up on the rail. Max reluctantly followed, shaking his head a bit before squinting down towards the river.

The lahar swept in, moving deceptively slowly down the riverbed. It looked more like a furiously churning wave of debris filled concrete than a river – which is essentially what it was. It had taken longer than they'd estimated for it to get here, which meant diverting it into Rose Lake and Cypress Downs had worked. It'd lost enough momentum that it only nudged their barriers, and splashed over in a few places. It spread out of the riverbed and through the ruined streets, collecting in the lowest areas, swirling for a bit, then moving on down stream, loosing steam as it spread further from the river. It would probably lose more momentum around the base of the Round, and may well fizzle out just outside of town as previous events often did.

Cheers erupted around them as other ponies realized their plan had worked, and the bulk of the neighborhoods nearest the river had been saved, but Max could not join in the revelry. The pressure was at a fever pitch now, and he feared he'd pass out. He gasped and looked up just in time to see a rainbow ring contract right over the city.

And then...

"Max! Max! Hey! Look at me! Max!"

He blinked and sucked in a sharp breath. The ringing in his ears faded as his vision cleared, and Lindseys concerned face came into focus.

"Max!?"

"What just happened?" He croaked. Why was he lying on his side?

"I don't know. I heard… felt a weird sorta… I dunno how to describe it! Then this wind blew through and, when I looked back you'd fallen over and… uh… well you might want to take a look in a mirror."

He rolled onto his belly and lifted his head. While he was dizzy, the pain was completely gone, and it felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his back. He rubbed his right eye with a knee then looked around.

"Is everyone else alright?"

"I think so."

From what he could hear of the chatter over the nodestone network a few other ponies had experienced the same thing. Mostly magic users. A few pegasus had been airborne with the wind hit and had gone for a ride, but they seemed to be in good cheer.

He focused on Lindsey and noticed that she had something on her haunch. He pulled his head back, then had to stare.

"Lindsey. You have a cutie mark."

"What!?" She spun in a complete circle to look, giving him a good view of her other haunch for a moment. She did indeed have the symbol for Pi emblazoned on her upper thigh in rich brown fur.

"What!? WHAT!? When did that get here!? It wasn't there before right? You didn't notice anything? I thought it was just you!"

"No! No that's - that's _definitely_ new!" Max hauled himself to his hooves and turned to look at his own haunches. Two things immediately caught his eye. One: he did indeed have a cutie mark! An ancient looking scroll that was partially unrolled and resting on a trio of red roses now graced his haunches. Two: he no longer had white scales on his back, nor dragon wings. Black feathered wings now sprouted out of his back, and his tail was mostly hair as well. He scrambled to the sliding glass doors to get a better look.

He looked… normal. He had a red coat with black wings, mane and tail like his mother, with some light feathering on his lower legs that brushed past his very average black hooves. He was shorter too, still tall, but not monstrously huge as he had been before. And strangest of all was that he had blue eyes. Sharp, icy blue eyes.

"Oh this is too weird!" Lindsey said, shaking her head as she came up behind him. She turned sideways to take a look at her cutie mark. "I mean, why now. Why do you… what happened to your dragony bits?"

"The shield… the shield must be down!" It was the only logical thing Max could think of. "I think that's why we have cutie marks. As for this..." he gestured at his reflection. "I have no idea."

"What's with that pendant?" Lindsey reached up and nudged a large ruby pendant that rested near his nodestone necklace. It was on a heavy gold chain.

He stared at its reflection, then reached up and nudged it himself. "I don't know, I've never seen it before. It..." he felt something cold settled in the pit of his stomach.

"Moonstruck mentioned that I'm lighter than she thought."

Lindsey gave him a weirdly sly look. "Lighter? How would she know that?"

"Oh, when we were sparring she..." he grimaced, the memory still stung a little. "Well, she said later that she put more force than she needed to when she pushed me, or body slammed me. Because she'd assumed I'd be heavier. Which is why I kept several ice packs with me for several days after."

"What if… the scales and the wings and… what if it was all an illusion?"

Lindseys sly look melted off her face. "That… _could_ be a power crystal, or some kind of… projection crystal, I guess.? If that's a thing."

"Mother does use enchanted crystals. That's how she teleported away earlier."

They stared at one another, the implications weighing heavy in the air without having to be said.

Somehow, thinking of his mother made him realize that he could sense her. And he knew where both she and Moonstruck were. He turned around and stared up at the tower. It was strange to see it without the Eye hovering above it, but also a relief. They'd never have to be under its gaze again.

"Go. I think we've got things here." Lindsey took a step back and waved a hoof to shoo him off.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah, go. You deserve answers."

Max nodded then stepped away from the doors. He crouched, opened his wings, then sprang lightly into the air. So lightly that he let out a surprised yelp as he gained altitude and speed almost freakishly fast. Was this what it was like to be in an environment rich with magic?

As he flew higher, he realized the ash cloud that had been preparing to rain down on them was gone, and the volcano was quiet, though the sun was still setting red beyond the western mountains. It was also much cooler than it had been, with a faint promise of _chill_ that may well descend after nightfall. Of all the nights, he'd rather this one be warm. Too many ponies would be without shelter for a chilly night. He glanced to the east, heartened to see an entire tent city had been set up around the teleportation beacons they'd placed out there, the white cloth plainly visible against the dull brown of the parched hills.

As he approached the tower, he debated circling higher to assess the situation, but decided against it. Appearing suddenly might be a better idea. So he climbed to right below the edge, then flexed his wings mightily to pop up onto the platform. He landed heavily, then glanced around.

Moonstruck was sitting on the big crystal embedded in the platform that Mother had used to project the Eye. She was injured, but had already bandaged herself up. What appeared to be an earth pony was curled up beneath a shimmering shield half way between the crystal, and the eastern edge of the platform.

He looked questioningly at Moonstruck, then was suddenly nervous. Would she recognize him like this? Lindsey had reacted well, but… well Moonstruck was more laid back than Lindsey – she'd be alright, wouldn't she?

She had turned her head when he'd landed, but was now squinting quizzically at him. It seemed an eternity before she spoke, though Max knew it couldn't have been more than two or three seconds.

"Did you change your mane?" She blurted.

He blinked a few times and lifted his head. "What?"

"You did! You got it cut didn't you!?" She huffed, sliding off the crystal and limping over. Her right shoulder had a thick bandage over it, and he could see a bit of blood had already seeped through, though his focus was mostly on her face, which was also bloody from a head wound. She had a prominent notch in her left hear now, and her mane just below it was clumped with swiftly drying blood from the wound.

"I… ye… yes! Yes. I did. Got tired of it." He stammered, very slow to catch on.

"When'd you have time to do that?" She stopped a polite distance away and scowled dramatically.

"Well… I _am_ the prince." He felt the fear subside and a warm feeling start to grow in his chest as she grinned at him.

The earth pony let out a rattling wheezing cough that he realized after a few seconds was actually a laugh. He glanced at the shield and froze as he saw intense yellow eyes staring at him. There was only one pony in the world who had venom in her eyes. Mother.

"Figures that'd wear off." She grumbled, her voice sounding rough and frail.

"It _was_ an illusion." Max said softly.

"My very best." Lucena sneered. "Even _you_ were convinced."

"Magmanus wasn't really my father, was he?"

"Of course not. Ponies and dragons can't interbreed – no matter how much magic you involve." Lucena rolled her eyes.

"I KNEW IT!" Moonstruck stamped a back hoof. "Also, _ew_ _w_."

"No, your father was in my elite magic corps. He already had an extremely powerful daughter. It takes an exceptional stallion to sire alicorns. Of course, it still took me three foals to get _you_. And unfortunately you were the only one to survive being bound to dragon magic."

"I have – had siblings?" Max took a small step back.

"Sisters. All unicorns. No real potential if a little dragon magic was too much for them." Lucena stretched languidly. "I wouldn't have bothered with you, you were such a crybaby. But male alicorns are so rare, and you ended up surviving the bonding process. Here I thought I'd have a prized gem of a son, but well, we all know how _that_ turned out."

She shifted her head to the side and squinted at him, more specifically his nearest haunch. "House historian. _Of course_. Pathetic. Not that you could _ever_ be a proper king, even _with_ the correct cutie mark."

Max was not sure what to tackle first.

"Actually, you do have a half sister. You probably killed her earlier. Or the _duchess_ here did, as I doubt you could kill a fly by accident." Lucena smirked.

"Kyrenai." He said, his mind flashing back to when she'd surrendered, the pain in her sharp blue eyes. Eyes the same shade as his. Her father had been the leader of Mothers magic corps for a long time. He'd been immensely powerful. He'd died before Max was born, but he'd seen pictures. Maroon coat, light feathering on his legs, and icy blue eyes.

"Kyrenai is my sister. That's why you drag her around with you."

"Whoa." Moonstruck stared off into space, eyes wide. "And that's why she gets to be cranky all the time!"

Lucena clapped her hooves together. "There you go. You've at least murdered a family member. Or borne witness to it."

"Nah, she surrendered." Moonstruck drawled, shifting her weight.

"What!?"

"She requested to be executed, but I sent her off with the 7th division. She's been helping with the evacuation." Max felt a laugh bubbling up, but he clamped down on it.

"Community service. Nice." Moonstruck nodded approvingly.

"Of all the! I – she's supposed to fight to the death!" Lucena snarled, getting shakily to her hooves. "She's supposed to defend me until death! She was supposed to kill you, or be killed by you! AUGH!" She bucked at the shield.

"WHY DID YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!?" She screamed, fixing Moonstruck with a hard glare. "MY COUNTRY. MY LOVE! MY PATHETIC HALFWIT SON!"

"For the lulz." Moonstruck replied..

"And you! By all the ancients! You ungrateful little git! After everything I did for you! You betray me by running off with this tart, then you don't even bother to overthrow me properly! You let _her_ do all the heavy lifting while you hid out with all of your pathetic little friends!"

Max winced and pulled his ears back. It wasn't really anything he hadn't heard before, but for some reason it stung more than usual. Maybe because he was a little guilty that Moonstruck _had_ ended up with the most dangerous jobs. Jobs _he_ really should have been doing.

"Hey!" Moonstruck barked.

"Three foals! Three foals I sacrificed to get you! And this is how you repay them!? How are you ever going make it up to _them_? How are you ever going to make it up to _me_ , oh noble gentlecolt!? Because you _have_ to! You _know_ you have to! That's what the _good_ alicorns always do!"

She was just trying to get a rise out of him. He knew she was just trying to hurt him as much as she could, while she still could, but no matter how hard he tried to brush off her words, they bored straight through his defenses and under his skin. He gritted his teeth and hunched his shoulders, mentally kicking himself for letting her get to him so easily, which ultimately made it hurt worse.

"Alright, that's enough from you." Moonstruck growled. Lucena still ranted within the shield, but Moonstruck had apparently silenced it on the outside.

"Sorry, shoulda done that sooner."

"It's… it's alright. She's just - just mad because she lost." He was shaking, he shouldn't be shaking, this wasn't a big deal.

"Hey, it's alright."

"I know, I know." He nodded and closed his eyes. "We won. She's just mad."

"You don't owe her anything. You don't have to forgive her."

He popped his eyes open to stare down at Moonstruck, fear twisting through his guts. "You want me to seek revenge!?"

"No, no," she shook her head and waved a hoof. "I mean it's just… forgiveness is like respect. You have to earn it. She hasn't done that yet."

He nodded again, the fear subsiding, the anxiety morphing, changing into something strange as it suddenly hit him that it was _over_. It was _over_ , and yet, he still felt horrible. He might _always_ feel horrible. He started to breathe heavily, realizing belatedly that he didn't have a paper bag near him.

"Hey, hey, listen, look at me." Moonstruck shuffled around to stand in front of him, reaching out with her injured leg to gently touch her hoof to his knee. He started and looked down at her, meeting her gaze, and doing his best to hold it.

"It's okay." She said. "Whatever you do, you don't have to forgive her. You – everyone – needs time to heal. If you need to be angry, be angry! I know there's probably some buildings that need demolishing. If you need to break down, we can look after things for a while. Then maybe later you can make that choice. But right now? Right now you just do whatever you need to."

He sucked in a shaky breath as tears started to form at the corners of his eyes. Then his knees threatened to gave way, so he lowered himself slowly onto the platform, more emotions than he'd ever thought he'd be able to feel swirling through his head. Try as he might, he couldn't fight back the tears. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to. But Moonstruck shifted around to lie down next to him, and drape a warm wing over his back, and for now… maybe that was enough.


	39. Epilogue 1

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

It had been a while since anyone had seen Max or Moonstruck. Although search and rescue operations were going well, Glenda was more than a little worried that neither of them had surfaced yet. Still, it was after dark by the time she was able to break free long enough track down someone who might know where they'd gotten off to.

There was also another, less pressing, but somewhat vexing matter at hoof. Ponies had been gaining cutie marks left and right – herself included. And hers, apparently, was something very fascinating. So fascinating that everyone was treating her with the utmost respect, while not telling her why.

"Oh, hey Glenda, what's up?" Lindsey asked as Glenda came to a landing in a staging area full of enchanted wagons. Lindsey was tinkering with an electric lantern that was attached to a flying wagon. They had installed lights on all of their flying carriages and wagons to search over night, but Glenda was a little surprised to see Lindsey doing maintenance on them when she'd been spending much of her time directing ponies, and assessing the structural integrity of various buildings. Then again, many ponies had been working non-stop for hours, and last Glenda knew they were drawing straws to start setting shifts to allow some ponies to rest for a while. Lindsey might be on a semi-break doing small jobs.

"Any sign of Max or Moonstruck yet?" Glenda asked. "I can't raise them on the nodestone network."

"Yeah, they showed up just after sunset. The nodestone network is a little messed up since the rainbooms – Mooney hasn't had time to fix it yet." Lindsey answered. She slid the pieces of the lantern back together then flipped a switch on the back of it. The lantern flickered to life. She nodded, then moved around to the lantern on the opposite side of the wagon.

"They're over on Igniz Hill letting any trapped pegasus out, and raiding private storehouses for supplies. You wouldn't believe how much food and stuff rich ponies have been stockpiling."

"Rich ponies are donating supplies?" Glenda furrowed her brow.

"Ha! No, that's why I said _raiding_. The owners skipped town at the first sign of trouble. Mooney said something about looting for the greater good - I don't remember the exact joke."

"I'm surprised Max is going along with that." Glenda chortled.

"Well, we _are_ desperately short on supplies, and we've known for a while that a lot of rich ponies have been hoarding a lot of stuff both for their own personal use, and to create scarcity to drive up prices." Lindsey grinned tightly. "Even Max has his limits when it comes to that sort of thing."

"Ah." Glenda nodded. She ruffled her wings then squinted into the distance as Lindsey got the second lantern working. It was almost chilly out, something she hadn't expected to experience for at least another month. The floodlights illuminating the courtyard buzzed faintly overhead, and flooded out the spectacular starlight above with their harsh yellow glow. Glenda had never seen so many stars, she just wished she had the time to sit back and enjoy them.

"Well, I guess I will go find them to see what all this is about, then."

"Eh?" Lindsey poked her head over the top of the wagon, a screwdriver gripped between her teeth.

Glenda turned sideways and opened a wing to let Lindsey take a look at her new cutie mark. Lindsey's jaw dropped open and the screwdriver clattered to the ground.

"Not you too..." Glenda sighed, closing her wing. "Could you at least tell me what's so shocking about it?"

"I could, but it would be more interesting to just come with you and have Max explain it." Lindsey grinned.

Glenda grumbled and rolled her eyes. They were not far from Igniz Hill, she supposed it couldn't hurt to walk. Except Lindsey set off at a trot once she finished the wagon and had someone come over to put it back in to use. Glenda was tired, but not so tired she couldn't make it up the hill. She hadn't drawn a short straw to take a break, but most everyone was insisting she take one anyway, on account of her age, and her cutie mark being oh so important. At first she was a bit insulted, but after trotting a mile and a half up steep, winding roads, she was beginning to think a bite to eat, and a few hours sleep was probably a good idea.

It was not difficult to find the alicorns; they stood in the middle of the street near the summit of Igniz Hill. Max was taking inventory as ponies brought in cartloads of bottled water and non-perishable food, while Moonstruck appeared to be maintaining a number of light spells to help the raiding parties find their way through the large houses that comprised the neighborhood. Glenda frowned as she saw Moonstrucks injuries. Joseph had told her about the fight, but she hadn't expected Mooney to be quite that bad. Her right shoulder was bandaged, but blood had already seeped through, and she was not putting any weight on that leg. Her head was also bandaged, and she had a prominent notch out of her left ear.

All around them pegasus and earth ponies worked triage on the pegasus whom had been locked in their stables when everything had gone sour. Many were in rough shape, all of them were considerably, and understandably confused. Glenda flicked her eyes over them, hoping to spot some familiar faces, but she saw none. Her clan had been adept at evading the catchers, but she'd had some small hope that someone might be in the historical society, or at least in the city where they could be rescued sooner, than later.

"Have you taken a break yet, dear?" Glenda asked as she came within earshot, scowling up at Moonstruck.

"Huh? Oh, hey Glenda. Yeah, I got one earlier." Moonstruck glanced over, then stifled a yawn. "Not a long one, but I got it. Have _you_ taken a break yet?"

"I'm taking one now." Glenda nodded, very much inclined to yawn herself. She resisted. Barely.

"Don't worry, I've forbidden her from doing anything taxing." Max grunted as he ambled over, examining a clipboard he was floating in front of himself. Moonstruck rolled her eyes, but seemed too weary to argue.

Glenda had to stare long and hard at Max as he approached. She had heard that he'd undergone a transformation of some sort, but had not expected to see him without all of his draconic features – he wasn't unrecognizable by any means, but it was still more than a little startling. He was also easily as tired as Moonstruck, but she suspected his wounds were more emotional.

"Goodness, I knew ponies had been hoarding water, but the amounts we've been finding is mind boggling!" He shook his head.

"How much?" Lindsey asked, trotting over to take a look at the clipboard.

"Thus far, we've gathered enough to last the city at least two weeks if we ration it carefully."

Lindsey whistled.

"I hate to bother you with something so unimportant, Max, but can you please explain what's so special about this?" Glenda asked, again turning sideways so that Max could see her cutie mark.

He glanced up, then did a double take, the clipboard dropped to the ground, as nearby ponies dropped into bows. Moonstruck looked over, let out a high pitched squeal of delight and began to prance in place – injured leg be damned. Lindsey grinned broadly.

"You're House Sunrose!?" Max yelped, taking a few steps closer and casting a light spell to get a better look at her cutie mark.

"We're related?" Glenda furrowed her brow. She recalled that the previous owners of Waterfall Castle had been a branch of House Rosegard, and that the family crest of the previous occupants had been a yellow rose flanked by rearing pegasus. Another moments thought brought her to the realization that her clan had held the Waterfall Castle territory for many, many generations. She looked back at her haunch; her cutie mark was a winged, yellow rose with a crown floating above it… _oh dear…_.

"Yes! Distantly!" Max laughed. "And that – that's a variation of the royal cutie mark! _Glenda!_ _You're the queen!_ "

For the first, and only time in her entire life, Glenda fainted.

* * *

Two weeks passed in a relentless blur. Digging ponies out, clearing rubble, getting power restored, seeing what – if anything - they could do about the cities dwindling water supply, getting everyone housed; the list went on and on. Moonstruck didn't know how they were going to accomplish everything, but she was constantly amazed by what progress they had made.

While the ponies on the ground continued to clear and rebuild the city, Moonstruck was presently wrestling in a small storm from the coast by herself. She'd been devoting a few hours in the morning to storm generation. Weathermancy wasn't her forte, so she had to fly all the way to the coast before dawn to collect seawater to generate clouds, then push the storms inland to move some light rain over the city and surrounding foothills. She also made it a point to let a few clouds linger on the coast and along the river to give the villages there a little relief.

The city could use a good soak, but she couldn't build a storm like that on her own, and she certainly couldn't control it by herself. If it got out into the foothills it could cause mudslides, or lightening strikes could start fires. They were stretched too thin to deal with either of those right now. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet been able to get any pegasus to try helping her out. Even though duds were finding themselves able to use magic now, and Earth ponies whom previously had no notable strength were able to move some mighty big rocks all of the sudden. Even Glenda was convinced the only reason Moonstruck could control the weather was that she was an alicorn.

This storm, at least, was more or less cooperating. The natural wind was out of the east today, so it hadn't taken long to guide the clouds along at a good clip, although maneuvering them over the south side of town was proving difficult. The wind wanted to push them straight across the north end of town, but it'd gotten scattered showers the day before. It was the south side of towns turn, but she couldn't get a good wind swirl going to send the clouds in the direction she wanted. So she had to push them herself.

She gave up around ten, when she finally realized there was a crosswind out of the west cutting across the south end of town, stymieing her efforts. So she set the clouds drifting between the two winds, and hoped they'd loop back around on their own later. Or maybe the whole city would get some weird, random showers - she really didn't know. She _did_ know she needed to head back to the tower to help with some official business.

While she largely split her time between weather manipulation, and moving especially heavy chunks of buildings, Max had been running himself ragged trying to maintain some semblance of control of the country. Holding Bridle-Dur had ended up being pretty easy. The majority of the cities inhabitants were mostly just happy to be alive. Most of the ponies loyal to Lucena had already skipped town, so they had the place to themselves, for the most part.

The rest of the country was a complete mess. News spread quickly that Magmanus was dead, and Lucena had been stripped of her powers, which had sparked unrest across the entire nation. Barons quickly turned on one another and common ponies rebelled. From the sounds of it, a lot of smaller villages and fiefdoms had been taken over by common ponies. Larger cities were still under the control of the ruling families, but their attention was split between an angry populace, and rival barons breathing down their necks. Few had thrown their lot in with Max's faction, but no one really expected anyone to come running just yet. Especially since they had almost no military weight to throw around, and wouldn't until they got the city up and running again.

Moonstruck knew all of that would be sorted out eventually, and it was working in their favor for now. As long as the barons were too busy fighting each other, they wouldn't move on Bridle-Dur.

It was Eira she was concerned with. No one had heard a peep out of her since everything had gone down. The only indication that she was aware of the situation was the brief appearance of a Maredor airship over Roanham, just within radio range of Bridle-Dur. The ship did not respond to any attempts to communicate, and it sent no signals of any kind. It sulked over the plains for about twenty minutes, then turned around and returned to the north.

Why they came within radio range, but did not communicate was the biggest mystery. Moonstruck wondered if they'd just sat out there and switched through the channels for a few minutes to see what sort of chatter was happening over the airwaves. That wasn't a particularly good way to gather information, unless they just wanted to find out what the kids were listening to in Bridle-Dur these days. Although even that would have taken a few hours at least. Pirate radio had become very popular once power was restored to a good chunk of the city. The kids were listening to all kinds of neat stuff.

Eira was part of the reason why she hadn't made the trek back to Canterlot yet. Another part was that while magic had returned, the distortion around Roanamias borders was still there. It was getting better by the day, but it was still a hazard. Even Joseph wasn't sure if he could find a way out in its current state. Waiting it out seemed like the best option.

Heaving a sigh, she set down at the towers main entrance, then nodded to the guards posted there as she trotted past. A few earth ponies scrambled giggling out of her way as she did so, thankfully they did not bow. They were probably in the historical society. Other ponies in the main entrance hall were likely not in the historical society and were more fearful of her, but she ignored them for now.

She didn't _really_ want to go up and help with paperwork, but she had a growing mountain of it on her desk, and Max had been bugging her to at least sign a few things every day. He'd designated her an official representative from Trot (which she technically was anyway), and an acting representative of the royal council, which mostly meant she could sign off on things he didn't have time to sign himself.

And there was a lot of stuff to sign off; most of it drafted either by Max himself, the usual historical society crew, a couple of city council members who were fairly decent, or some combination there-of. She didn't really read most of it, but considering who the authors were, she knew it'd be alright. Getting her signature on anything was most definitely just for show, anyway – no matter how much Max insisted it wasn't.

Their new main offices were on the fifth floor. With Lucenas staff gone, they'd simply taken over the office space already in the tower. The main office was a large, dreary but busy room full of cubicles. When they'd first moved in, all of the windows had been covered with heavy curtains, but they were one of the first things to go. It was nice seeing it with natural light. Ponies had moved potted plants in as well, so it was starting to feel more homey, or at least, normal office-y instead of a horrible dark cave of bureaucratic despair.

Moonstruck ambled in the open door and down the main aisle, carefully dodging ponies as she did so. Someone had a radio on, and most of the ponies were bopping along to an especially bouncy electro-swing song. At the end of the aisle was a set of large double doors which had been the managers office. It had been a comically oversized office for one pony, so Max had placed several desks in there. One for himself, one for Lindsey, one for Moonstruck for now, and a couple more for city commissioners. Glenda even had an easy chair by the window with a small book shelf of interesting and/or informative things to read. Sharing the space still left plenty of room in the center, and the big picture windows let in oodles of cheery sunshine.

It was much less busy in the managers office. Max was at his desk reading through a lengthy scroll. A city commissioner was typing up something on a typewriter on the opposite side of the room, and an aide was sorting through a stack of paperwork by the mail slot.

"Ah, how's the storm looking?" Max asked as she reluctantly sat down on her stool.

"Eh, had some trouble with a cross-wind, so I let the clouds drift as they will." Moonstruck shrugged. She was still a little irritated with Max for chickening out of kicking clouds. While she wasn't completely certain Roanamian pegasus could manipulate the weather, she knew for a fact that _he_ could.

"Ah. Well, every little bit helps, I suppose." He chirped.

Moonstruck grunted and selected a scroll off the pile. It was funding authorization for various water filtration upgrades around the city. She skimmed over it, signed it at the bottom, then shoved it in the basket labeled, 'out'.

Thirty minutes and a dozen scrolls later, she was ready to head back out. They probably needed her help somewhere. They'd been utilizing Joseph's superior sense of smell to locate ponies trapped in the rubble or – as time had worn on – their remains. Glenda had been helping out a lot there, often pulling ponies out herself, and generally keeping morale up. They probably wouldn't mind having some extra muscle around. She was about to say she was going to go and do just that, when a pegasus she did not immediately recognize burst into the room.

"Ships from the south! A whole fleet of an unknown make!" He panted, nearly out of breath.

"What?" Max sat up straighter.

"What do they look like?" Moonstruck asked, poking her head over her pile of scrolls. She was about to ask why the pony hadn't radioed in, but he didn't seem to have any sort of communication device on him. They'd been having trouble finding enough equipment to go around, and Moonstruck didn't really have time to enchant more nodestones, although she did repair the network so it was working properly again.

"Like… like sailboats, not dirigibles! But the boats are resting on great big thunderclouds! And they're _fast_!"

"Oh, sounds like a battlecloud." Moonstruck mused, recalling the fleet that would come through for festivals. She'd gotten to ride on one once, when she was a little filly. Trot only had a few battleships, and they were sleek and elegant schooners. This had been a visit from a few of Canterlot's big galleons….

"OH." She sprang out from behind her desk. "I should probably go tell them everything's okay!"

"M-Mooney!?" Max yelped.

"Shields been down for two weeks, and I haven't reported in yet!" Moonstruck shouted. She teleported to the top of the tower, then spun around, squinting into the glare. Sure enough, there was a vast fleet of battleclouds spread across the southern foothills. Celestias flagship was massive compared to most of the rest of the ships, and instantly recognizable from even this far away.

She lunged off the tower, pumping her wings hard to get within shouting distance before they came within firing range – not that they _would_ attack out of the blue, but it'd be better if she met them before anypony else did.

When she was nearly there, and safely out of cannon range, she sent up a projection of her cutie mark to identify herself, and watched as the ships slowed to a stop. A gray and green streak shot off the prow of Celestias flagship, and for a moment she thought they were firing something at her, but as the object grew closer, she realized she recognized those colors.

"WINDWAKE!" Moonstruck squealed as the pegasus nearly barreled into her. They both threw on the brakes, then hugged each other tightly and briefly before separating to hover a safe distance from one another.

"MOONEY I SWEAR ON THE HOLIEST OF OATS IF YOU HADN'T – holy crab apples, look at your wings!"

"I know, right?! Long story!" Moonstruck laughed.

"And what did you do to your mane?"

"Also a long story."

"And -"

"I know! I know! I look different!" She waved a hoof flippantly.

"You look good though. More at peace." He nodded sagely.

"I dunno about _that_ , but yes, I do look good." She grinned and tossed her mane. He rolled his eyes. She was about to say more, when a clipped, official sounding voice cut in on a loudspeaker from the direction of the fleet.

"Princess Moonstruck, Captain Windwake, if you would please report in..."

They exchanged glances then high tailed it over to Celestias flagship. Windwake landed first and quickly bowed to the ponies standing on the top deck of the ship. Moonstruck landed after, and paused a moment to take in the sight Princess Celestia and Luna in full battle armor. Twilight Sparkle and her friends stood respectfully behind them, also in full armor. They'd clearly expected trouble.

"I do believe your mission was to collect data." Celestia said, smiling wryly. "When we didn't hear from you for months we assumed the worst, but it became clear the shield was weakening dramatically. Then it collapsed two weeks ago."

"Uh, yeah, well that was the original plan, yes." Moonstruck nodded and shifted her weight. Her right shoulder was healing well, but it still hurt to leave weight on it for long periods.

"But some stuff happened, one thing led to another, aaaand I ended up joining up with the locals to overthrow Lucena. It went better than expected, actually!"

The elder alicorns simply stared at her.

"That had to be some wild stuff!" Rainbow Dash quipped, breaking the silence before it could stretch on too long.

"And how!" Moonstruck laughed, then remembered she had another job to do, she dropped briefly into a bow.

"Oh! As an acting agent of King Maximus – Lucenas son - I formally request whatever ponytarian aid you can spare. Roanamia has been in a horrific drought for decades, and the ponies here are starving. There isn't enough food, or clean water in the city to last a month, much less a winter, and a volcanic eruption has left much of the city it a bad state. The rest of the country is in turmoil so supply lines from the north are out of the question for the time being. They really, _really_ need the help."

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances as Pinky Pie let out a squeak then scurried off.

"Done." Celestia nodded. She gestured to the ships captain, who'd been lurking curiously off to the side. "Captain, please inform the fleet to convert to weather station mode, and prepare all medical personnel for some very long shifts. I'd also like a complete inventory of what rations we have."

"Yes, your highness!" He beamed. He bowed, then spun and trotted away, shouting out orders.

"I'll get in touch with Cadance." Luna said before trotting away as well.

Celestia nodded, then stepped off to speak with a knot of weather ponies whom had been summoned up moments before.

Pinkie Pie nearly ran her over as she scurried back and offered Moonstruck a plate of chocolate muffins.

"I just _knew_ somepony would need these today!"

Moonstruck nearly burst into tears at the sight of the muffins.

"I haven't had chocolate all summer!" She sobbed, grabbing one off the plate and stuffing it in her mouth. Oh, and it was a good muffin! Chewy and dark. Not dense exactly, but not as light as a cupcake. It was not overly sweet, but the chocolate, (which she was certain was a high percentage cacao) was smooth, with a hint of bitterness that contrasted beautifully with the softer, lighter, sweeter elements of the muffin.

" _Thank you!_ "

"You're welcome! I guess I'll have to make more!" Pinkie Pie laughed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there, sugar cube. I think ponies here need more than a couple of chocolate muffins." Applejack laughed. "It's good to hear everything turned out relatively okay."

"This is only the start." Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "Just liberating the country isn't enough. They need to completely rebuild their infrastructure."

"Ugh, I know, it's the worst! I can do demolitions, but remodeling is not my cup of tea. Speaking of, you brought coffee and tea, right? I haven't had any caffeine for months. And the poor sods living here have _never_ had any!" Moonstruck slumped as she finished off the muffin. She offered a muffin to Windwake but he just shook his head and sighed heavily.

"Of course!" Pinkie Pie laughed.

She seriously considered eating another muffin, but realized something was a little off about Windwake.

"Hold up, since when am I taller than Windwake?"

She lifted a hoof to the top of her head, then extended it over to the top of his head. She was quite a bit taller than him now. She knew she'd slimmed down and bulked up, but she hadn't expected to be significantly taller than before.

"At some point over the summer I'd assume." He rolled his eyes. "Didn't you notice?"

"No! I just thought everyone in Roanamia was short! And a lot of them are!"

He face-hoofed as the gathered ponies giggled.

Some of the laughter sounded a little familiar. She leaned to the side to peek around Fluttershy. A small, brown and white paint pegasus in lightweight, unadorned armor was tucked away back there, listening curiously. A brown and white paint pegasus who's markings, and laugh were nearly identical to another brown and white paint pegasus Moonstruck happened to know.

"Oh hey, Sarah!"

The pony in question started slightly, then took a hesitant step forward. "Uh… he-hello."

Moonstruck felt a grin spread across her face. Sarah looked to be in excellent shape. She even had a cutie mark. And from what she knew about Roanamian cutie marks, it was pretty important. It was also a big fat _told you so_ to all of the pegasus she couldn't convince to play with any clouds. Which was all of them.

"That's a scary grin. Whatever it is, I want in." Rainbow Dash grinned as well and rubbed her front hooves together.

"You'll find out soon enough." Moonstruck chuckled softly. "I should probably head back to let them know to roll out the red carpet."

"Yes, the flagship should be converted by the time we reach the tower." Celestia said as she stepped back over to their group, looking back and forth between Moonstruck and Sarah curiously.

"We can get some rain going before sunset."

"Fantastic! C'mon Windwake. You've gotta go meet the Roanamia crew. Sarah, I have a surprise for you!"

"Uh..."

"Don't worry, you'll like it." It was taking everything she had not to spill the beans.

"I expect a full report in four days." Celestia added, as Rainbow Dash shoved Sarah over to stand next to Moonstruck.

"Perfect. Okay, lets go." She grabbed ahold of Windwake and Sarah with her magic, then teleported them directly into Max's shared office.

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin when they appeared in the center of the big, ornate rug that took up most of the middle of the room.

"That was fast!" Max blurted. "What's happening? What do they want?"

"Whoa! You can teleport really far now!" Windwake yelped, a little bit of electricity arcing over his armor. Sarah cowered next to him, looking around with wide eyes.

"What just happened?" She muttered.

"Nah, I've got nodestones _everywhere._ " Moonstruck chuckled, then turned to Max.

"That would be Equestria. They came in expecting trouble, but they're more than happy to lend aid. They're already converting the battle clouds to weather stations and prepping their medics. They'll be here in about an hour." Moonstruck beamed. "I'm pretty sure you've got some red carpet lying around, so you might wanna pull it out."

Ponies erupted into cheers as Max slumped with relief. "So who's…?"

"Princess's Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle." Moonstruck glanced around the room. Neither Glenda nor Joseph were around, but that wasn't particularly surprising.

"Oh!" He scrambled out from behind his desk. "Th-three princesses!?"

"Yup!"

"They're coming here?"

"Yup! And probably Princess Cadance in a couple of days. She'll probably deliver the first round of food and such herself."

"Oh dear." Max nearly melted into a puddle of goo on the floor. "Oh dear, I don't know the first thing about meeting other alicorns, I mean..."

"It'll be fine, they're all super nice." Moonstruck waved his concern away. "Anyway, this here's my BFF Windwake. And this is Sarah, who was the pony who got out."

Max blinked a few times and focused on the ponies she'd brought with her. Eyes lingering on Windwake (whom bowed deeply) for a moment, then shifting over to Sarah (whom cowered lower). His face took on a quizzical expression as he seemed to recognize Sarahs markings.

"A… are you the… p-prince?" Sarah stammered, ducking shyly behind Moonstruck.

"King." Moonstruck corrected, picking her up with magic and setting her down in front of Max.

"Well, we haven't had the coronation yet." Max grimaced.

"Just a formality."

"Yes, well." He cleared his throat, and bowed to Sarah. "I am honored to meet you. If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened."

Sarah lifted a foreleg and tucked it against her chest, taken aback. "Me?"

"Yes. Your escape set off the chain of events that led Moonstruck here. If it wasn't for her, we never would have been able to overflow Mother."

"Is this a good thing?"

"Goodness, I hope so!" He laughed and straightened up.

Sarah blinked a few times. "You don't know?"

"There's… well it's very complicated. We're doing the best we can." He ducked his head sheepishly.

Moonstruck flicked an ear to the left as she heard familiar voices approaching. _Perfect timing._ Lindsey ambled into the room first, followed by Joseph and Evee, then finally Glenda.

"So anyway, I think we can salvage most of that pump station and reclaim at least a little of the water." Lindsey was saying.

"I don't really understand the process, but it sounds good." Glenda nodded.

"Grandma!?" Sarah gasped as the pony in question came into view.

Glenda looked up and froze. For a few moments no one breathed as the pegasus stared across the room at one another. Then tears welled up in Glendas eyes and she bolted forward, meeting her granddaughter in the center of the room in a tight embrace.

"Sarah! Oh my Sarah!" Glenda sobbed.

"What are you doing here!? What happened to the clan!?" Sarah croaked, wiping tears from her eyes as she leaned back a little to look at her grandmother.

"Oh, it's a long, strange story! And I have no idea! They left me for dead months ago! But it's alright now! Everything will be alright now!" Glenda shook her head. "Look at you! Look at how healthy you are! And your cutie mark!"

"They left you for dead!?" Sarah yelped. "Why would they do that!?"

"Because I was _nearly_ dead!" Glenda laughed but her eyes were sad. "There was barely enough food left to last a week. I hadn't eaten in almost twice that so that the foals could eat. When the catchers came, I was too weak to fly away with the clan!"

"What!?" Sarah sank back on her hind legs and placed her hooves on either side of her face, absolutely horrified.

"But then these two showed up." This time the laugh was more genuine as Glenda gestured to Moonstruck and Joseph.

Sarah looked over then gaped at Joseph. "You!?"

"Yo." Joseph waved a little.

"They came telling a wild story about trying to escape the country. It was a lie of course, they'd just gotten _in_. When the catchers came they bought the clan time, and they took me with them, when they were captured."

"You were captured!?"

"Uh, we were guests. Not prisoners. There's a difference." Moonstruck huffed and ruffled her wings.

"Apparently being an alicorn gets you VIP treatment no matter what." Joseph stage whispered to Lindsey. She giggled.

"This is a lot to take in." Sarah shook her head to clear it.

"It gets better!" Moonstruck cackled.

"Eh, I'll tell you the rest of the story later." Glenda shot Moonstruck a sharp look.

"Your grandmother is actually the queen, which makes you a princess if you want to be – and the Royal Weathermaster going by your cutie mark!" Max blurted. Sarahs cutie mark was a thunder cloud with a yellow rose peeking out from behind it where the sun would typically be.

Sarah whipped around to gape at him. "You're joking!"

"I'm afraid not." Glenda sighed. She shifted to the side and lifted a wing to show Sarah her cutie mark.

Sarah stared for a few moments. "That… does seem important."

"I'm still retired." Glenda grumbled, then turned to Max. "What was it you said my title was now?"

"Dowager Queen." Said Max.

"Right. Mostly an honorary position. Though I do like that chair." She squinted at the chair in the window.

"You're a wise, and honored adviser." Max insisted.

"I'm a _grandmother_." Glenda huffed.

"Same thing." Lindsey quipped.

"I know I'm new, but I'm not sure if this is a legendary amount of damage or not." Windwake muttered, throwing Moonstruck an odd look.

"I'm not really sure either." She shrugged. "This popsicle stand will certainly never be the same again, though."

He nodded, then cleared his throat. "Uh, Princess Celestia and everyone are going to be here in less than an hour so…."

"Goodness! We need to get on that!" Max yelped, scrambling over to his desk, he pressed a button on his desk and started getting things in motion.

* * *

A/N: We're into the epilogues now. Yes. Plural. I kept telling myself I wouldn't be as bad as Tolkien, but then….


	40. Epilogue 2

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

"Who are you again?" Max asked after Moonstruck said something about taking a quick shower before then teleporting away.

The outlander pegasus started slightly and turned. "Me? Captain Windwake, Trot Royal Guard." He saluted smartly.

"Er, yes, I had assumed as much, going by the armor. I meant the, uh, BFF part." Max felt oddly… he wasn't sure why the outlander stallion irritated him. He hadn't said or done much at all.

"Oh, Best Friend Forever." Windwake half closed his eyes. "Unfortunately, I had the pleasure of growing up with Mooney."

"Aw, I'm sorry." Joseph reached over and patted Windwake on the shoulder.

"You've been stuck with her too, huh?" He grinned at Joseph.

"Oh, you two." Glenda laughed and nudged the both of them with her wings.

Max shook his head and shoved the strange feeling aside. They had far too much to do to worry about Moonstrucks childhood friends. The main landing bay, and grand audience chamber both needed to be prepped, he needed to find something official looking to wear, they needed to select delegates and… they didn't really have enough food to spare for any sort of welcoming banquet and… this was going to be a disaster. He did his best not to dwell on it, and focused on what they _could_ do.

Soon enough he found himself lining up with other ponies to greet their most auspicious visitors. He'd only been able to locate one cloak that wasn't too big, and he'd reluctantly worn his crown. It wasn't the kings crown – that was tucked away up in his Mothers personal treasure vaults somewhere. Retrieving it has been low on the priorities list, and he was disinclined to navigate whatever boobie traps she had up there at the moment; even though most – if not all of the ongoing spells she'd had in place seemed to have fizzled out the moment she'd lost her powers. She probably had physical traps in case the arcane ones failed, anyway.

Someone informed him that the flagship would dock shortly, and he very much wished Moonstruck was beside him to walk him through the proceedings, but she was to act as a sort of escort/herald and announce the other princesses. She was waiting at the far end of the loading docks with Windwake and Joseph to greet their guests as soon as they disembarked.

"You'll be alright." Glenda said, patting him on the flank. She wore a fine velvet collar with a yellow rose pendant (something they'd stumbled across in the tower treasure vaults – clearly an heirloom of house Sunrose) and had braided her silvery mane and tail. Sarah stood awkwardly next to her in something of a daze, still processing everything, apparently.

"I hope you're right." Max murmured.

"From what Sarah has told me, the Equestrian royalty are exceedingly kind, as are the ponies she was placed with to recover."

"Moonstruck has said the same." Max nodded. A thin sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead even as he said it.

"You've got this." Lindsey grunted. She was standing on his other flank. "They know the situation, I doubt they're expecting much."

Evee whistled softly as the Equestrian flagship hove into view, sailing smoothly on a roiling bank of clouds.

"That is one fancy ship." Lindsey muttered.

"Never thought I'd see magic like that in my lifetime." Wenchell muttered, as Fern nodded in agreement.

The ship – a vast white and gold galleon – pulled smoothly up to the landing platform. It floated placidly as a ramp extended from a hatch in the hull. The next few minutes were a blur. The princesses disembarked, pleasantries were exchanged, and he soon found himself seated at the big stone table in the grand audience chamber listening to Moonstruck (with Joseph and Glenda often chiming in) give a condensed report of all that had happened since she left the town nearest Roanamia in the outside world.

He knew much of it already, so he mostly watched the foreign ponies and tried to wrap his brain around the strange turn the day had taken. He still felt like the outside world was something of a myth. Logically, he knew it was out there, beyond the mountains. But contact with it seemed like some distant dream, something so far into the future even he couldn't spare a moment to think about it. But now half the ponies at the table were foreign.

It was also strange to see brightly colored earth and pegasus ponies. Stranger still to see a pair of ancient alicorns with their curiously waving manes sitting casually in his house sipping tea. They were ageless as the ancients were, and yet, they were here. In this plane. Living, breathing.

"Actually, I think Max should tell the next part." Moonstruck said into his thoughts.

He started a little and threw her a slightly horrified look. He hadn't been paying very close attention, and wasn't sure what part she was referring to.

"Well, you were the one who got to go on the weird trip." She gave him an odd look.

Oh, of course. The ancients. He cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. This he could most certainly speak at length about, but he knew to keep it as brief as he could. He was blushing darkly by the time he finished. The princesses were gaping openly at him.

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances.

Max shifted a little uneasily, not sure how to respond. Or if he should respond.

"Did you know them?" Moonstruck asked into the stunned silence.

"Oh goodness no! They were well before our time." Celestia shook her head.

"It's just… how do I put this..." Luna scowled and pulled her ears back. "Even with my abilities, I cannot see into the realm of the ancients. All things exist within the Dreaming, even the realm of the dead in a way. But _not_ the realm of the ancients."

"Dude, your trip was even weirder than you thought!" Moonstruck grinned at him.

"Well, they _did_ say it was important."

"Yes, if the corrosive power of Lucenas shield was enough to cut ponies off from the land of the dead, it was of dire importance, which… might have allowed them to bend a few rules." Luna scowled. "Are you sure that was water?"

"Not really." Max shifted his weight uncomfortably. "It felt like water, but I could breathe it like air."

"It may have been extremely concentrated magic." Celestia mused.

"Magic _can_ take a liquid state." Twilight Sparkle piped. "It takes some very specific conditions to get it to do that though. An immense amount of outside pressure, and a high concentration of magic in a strong, magically non-conductive container."

"The magical field down there was pretty dense." Moonstruck tilted her had to the side. "And if that was the shields power source – or a version of it – it might have served as a container."

"Yes, that would certainly create some curious conditions." Celestia nodded slowly. "Not a gateway, exactly, but a way for them to communicate directly with you."

"As surreal as it was, it certainly felt real." Max furrowed his brow.

"In situations such as the one you experienced, there is no difference between reality and dreaming." Luna blinked her large, luminous eyes. "They may well have pulled you as close to _physically_ being in the Dreaming as one can; into a twilight realm between the living, and the dead. That is a deep kind of magic that even a powerful shield such as the one your mother erected could not block or absorb. And a power that the ancients can wield if they so desire."

He felt a chill creep down his spine at her words, very glad that his most ancient and revered ancestors were as kind as the legends portrayed.

"Is that why alicorns all eventually leave?" Moonstruck asked. "They get so powerful they can bend reality itself?"

"In part." Celestia said slowly, her expression unreadable. "Many simply grow tired of the mortal realm. Although we do not appear to age past maturity, time is no kinder to alicorns than it is to anypony else. We simply move through it a little differently."

She brightened. "But please, do continue. I sense it will not be long until the rest of the fleet is finished being converted to weather stations."

Moonstruck let out a short breath then picked up where Max left off. By the end of it, the princesses sat in stunned silence. They stared in Moonstrucks direction, but were looking through her.

"You've certainly had a busy summer!" Twilight Sparkle said after she seemed to have decided the silence had stretched on long enough. Her companions laughed nervously.

"Yep." Moonstruck nodded. "Oh yeah, what was with the split sky back on the solstice?"

"A tale for another time, perhaps." Celestia said, shifting her gaze to Max, then past his shoulder. "I sense the ships are ready."

He glanced over his shoulder to see one of the Equestrian ponies trotting over.

The ships were indeed ready, and it seemed the Weathermasters had a short-term drought relief plan. Max soon had a surprisingly detailed report placed in front of him for final approval. It was mind boggling to read; he knew that pegasus ponies had once been able to control the weather – and that ponies living outside the shield still did, but actually having a plan in front of him was surreal. As was listening to ponies discuss it like it was a normal, everyday occurrence.

 _It_ is _a normal, everyday occurrence_ , he reminded himself as he signed it. _Just not here. Not yet._ It was about to be.

"Excellent. Lets get started." Princess Celestia nodded as she stood up. "We'll need as many filers as we can gather to help move the storm in."

"Evee, go round up as many pegasus as you can, you've all gotta see this." Moonstruck grinned and hopped to her hooves. She stretched her wings.

"Uh, alright." Evee scowled then got up and trotted off.

"You've gotta come, Grandma! You've gotta see what I can do!" Sarah bounced out of her seat as well.

"I will, I will!" Glenda chuckled.

"You should come too Twilight! You can use the practice!" Rainbow Dash nudged the small purple alicorn.

"Er… I suppose." She grimaced. "I guess arranging clouds won't be too hard."

"Yeah, good idea. Max, you're comin' with me!" Moonstruck pushed him off his stool as she passed. "I know you know you can. No more excuses."

"I uh… d-don't you need me here?" He scrambled to his hooves and threw a glance back at the elder alicorns, then shifted his gaze over to Lindsey whom was grinning cheekily at him.

"I believe your ponies and our ponies are already unloading food, and setting up medical centers." Celestia laughed.

"Uh… yes. We, er did already set that up. Kind of already had everything organized on this end, so..." he grimaced.

"We can take care of things here." Lindsey added. "You go have fun."

"We should have a storm party!" Pinkie Pie squealed. "You can all bring the storm in, and we can get the city ready!"

"Uh, I don't think they're quite ready for a party, Pinkie." Twilight Sparkle pointed out.

"Don't be silly! They _need_ a party after everything they've been though! I just need to go grab a few things and think up a song for everyone to sing!" Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. "Actually..."

She darted over to a piano that Max had never noticed before and tapped out a couple of melodies.

" _And we're here to brighten up your day – with a little rain!_ " She sang out, once she hit on something she liked.

"Hmm. Gonna have to work on that." She slid off the stool. "Be back in half a jiffy!" She galloped out of the room so fast she was little more than a pink blur.

"Uh…?" Max looked at the space she'd just been in, then the door she'd just whizzed out of. When he looked back the piano was gone. "What just happened?"

"Pinkie has powers." Applejack nodded sagely.

"Yes, you're going to get to see some very fascinating magic." Luna chuckled.

"Fascinating. That's a good word!" Twilight Sparkle giggled.

And then they were off, trotting back down to the main landing bay, a great pack of giggling pegasus joining them as they went. By the time they reached the majestic galleon docked at the tower, they had several hundred pegasus trailing after them. Max was a little impressed Evee could find so many so quickly. Were they all just hanging around the tower?

Celestia gave instructions to a few of her pegasus underlings. They saluted, then trotted over to speak with the gathered Roanamian pegasus. Sarah stayed with one of them, but gestured for Glenda to go ahead and get on board. Max threw a look at Glenda, who shrugged.

Then they were being ushered into the interior of the ship, passed many unicorn and earth pony operators, then out onto the deck. He tried to figure out what was happening by listening to all of the excited chatter happening around him, but it proved futile.

"You must have gone through quite the ordeal."

Max started and turned to see Twilight Sparkle walking over to him.

"Growing up here. I mean. As the prince." She grimaced. "It sounded like it was pretty bad. And it's so tragic that nopony had any cutie marks!"

"Yes. Yes it was." He frowned, then looked around. "Do you know what's going on?"

"They're going to take the fleet out to the ocean to pick up enough water to make a good sized storm." Twilight Sparkle brightened.

"I'm still new to this whole princess thing myself, and haven't really done any weather work. I mean, Rainbow Dash was showing me a few tricks but, well I still forget I can fly half the time!" She laughed nervously.

"New?" He gave her a strange look.

"Well, I wasn't _born_ an alicorn."

"Yeah, she unlocked a special achievement!" Rainbow Dash quipped as she ambled up with Fluttershy. "And got some wings and the power of the cosmos or something!"

Fluttershy nodded demurely then shifted back to stand behind Rainbow Dash, blushing darkly as she stared up at him, her face half hidden behind her long, pale pink mane.

"I had no idea that was possible!" Max took a small step back. That would certainly explain why she wasn't really any taller than a normal pony, and likely wasn't much younger than he was.

"Neither did I!"

"We're about to shove off, please plant your hooves." Came a clipped voice over the loudspeaker. Max did as he was told, and a few moments later, the ship lurched into motion, pulling away from the tower and gaining altitude and speed. Many of the other, smaller ships were already jetting off over the city, flocks of outlander pegasus flying among them. When he looked back, he saw that a number of pegasus were forming up on this ship as well. As he watched, Sarah, Evee and Joseph glided in for a landing with them on the foredeck.

"You're coming too, eh?" Moonstruck asked as she, Glenda and Windwake came up the steps from the main deck.

"Yeah, I've seen you guys do weather stuff from a distance. Kinda wanted to see it up close." Joseph shrugged.

"Cool, cool. Surprised you're still hanging around, to be honest." She came to a stop next to Twilight Sparkle. "Considering your kind usually avoids ponies."

"Too late for that now." He sighed.

"Heh, yeah. You're super famous in Roanamia!"

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Max glanced to the side as movement on the steps caught his eye. A small purple and green dragon popped into view, carrying what looked like goggles. It opened its mouth as if to say something then froze when it saw Joseph.

"Spike, are you okay?" Twilight Sparkle asked, furrowing her brow.

"Y-you're a dragon!?" He pointed at Joseph.

"Huh. You're awfully young to be out and about." Joseph grunted, swiveling his head to look over his shoulder at Spike.

"He's with me." Twilight Sparkle said, taking the goggles from Spike and resting them on her head.

"Huh." Joseph scratched the back of his head. "It's probably a good thing Geode's not here."

"Yeah, where is she?" Moonstruck furrowed her brow and looked around, as if she expected the pony in question to pop out of a barrel. Max wouldn't put it past her, to be honest. Geode could be amazingly sneaky when she wanted; liable to show up when least expected. He did, however, know she wasn't lurking in any barrels today.

"I believe she left a day ago with a research team to locate Magmanus' remains." Max scowled. "I honestly don't know what they expect to do with him."

"That is a lot of dead dragon to deal with." Moonstruck nodded, eyes wide. "I'm very glad the natural wind has been out of the east."

Max grimaced. "I had not considered the smell."

"Yeah… should probably let the weatherponies know about that, now that I'm thinking about it. Make sure they maintain that east wind." Moonstruck fluttered over to the aft deck, where the weathermasters presumably were.

Max moved up to the prow of the ship as the others chatted lightly, surprised at how quickly they were moving. Equestrian airships were far faster than their dirigibles, and they left no dark trails of smoke, as they were powered by magic, instead of coal burning steam engines. It was one of the things that had irked him in the days since the shield had come down; they had to keep using their coal powered devices until enough magic, and magic experts arrived to power the city in other ways. Which meant the smog had returned fairly quickly after the initial blast of magic had rolled through. Additionally, while the volcano had quieted, there had been enough ash in the upper atmosphere to add to the mix after a few days. It seemed like that first, beautifully clear night had been a mere tease. At least it wasn't as bad as it had been before the shield came down.

The city sprawled below them with a slight haze blanketing everything. Dust from numerous construction or demolition projects added to the growing miasma. Tall cranes carefully dismantled fallen buildings, heavy wagons and mechanical trucks hauled debris to either dumping grounds for that which could not be used in it current state, or over to cleared spaces to put immediately into a new buildings if it was more readily salvageable. There was very little that couldn't be used again. Concrete could be ground down and recycled, stone could be re-cut, and refitted. Rotted wood was more difficult as much of it had been treated with chemicals at some point or another and was unsuitable for firewood, or compost.

"Are we all ready?" Princess Celestia asked from behind him.

He started and turned, surprised to see Celestia and Luna had joined them on the foredeck. Moonstruck fluttered to a landing a little further back. The gathered pegasus nodded.

"For what?" Joseph asked.

"We thought it would be good for the new king to be seen leading everyone to the coast." Luna smiled slightly.

"Uh..." Max blanched.

"Oh yeah, good idea!" Moonstruck piped as she trotted over. "And it'll probably scare the snot outta some of the barons if they see you flying with three new alicorns and a whole fleet of airships."

"Er..."

"Ah yes, you mentioned the barons have been fighting among themselves." Celestia frowned. "I'm not sure what to do about that yet."

Luna gazed out to the north. "I'll have a look around tonight. I couldn't get a clear read on anyone outside Roanamia with the lingering distortion, but now that I'm _here_ …."

Max swallowed hard. He knew what powers Celestia and Luna held; Lunas dreamwalking abilities had always terrified him. It was a power that few ponies seemed to recognize as being far beyond being able to raise and lower the moon.

"C'mon. All you've gotta do is fly, we'll fall into formation behind you." Moonstruck nudged him.

He let out a long breath, then nodded. Formation flying he could do. They took a moment to decide on what formation to take, and who should fly where, then took off, speeding ahead of the ships. Max looked down as they went, surprised to see many ponies on rooftops, or in the streets staring up in curiosity. Fern had seen to it that word got out that help had arrived from outside the shield, but he had no way of knowing, how ponies would react, much less time to do any sort of damage control if panic broke out. It didn't appear to have. He glanced back, taking in the sight of the fleet behind him, and other squadrons of pegasus, some comprised mostly of Equestrian ponies, and others of Roanamian. Most were mixed.

They'd settled on a standard V formation, which was not flashy at all, but the most efficient considering they were flying into a headwind. Glenda flew just off his right wing and a little behind, in perfect drafting position. Sarah was behind and to the right of her, then Evee, Moonstruck, Windwake, and Joseph. Celestia was to his left and a little behind, then Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, whom looked about as nervous as he felt.

They didn't need a flashy formation, now that he had a good look at them all. Five alicorns flying together in a clear blue sky, with the sun high overhead, and the wind blowing through the city was impressive enough. Joseph added a certain air of mystery and perhaps danger, which tended to happen whenever dragons were applied to anything. The fleet of sailing ships gliding along on enchanted clouds, and dozens of flights of pegasus didn't hurt either.

He felt a more than a little embarrassed to be out in front leading all of this, even though it was absolutely his place to do so. He was also charged with choosing their route, and decided following the river down to the delta would be a good idea. He hadn't been out to check on the villages downstream yet, and now would be as good a time as any to take a quick look from the air.

As they flew, more pegasus came up to join them; drawn by curiosity, or the occasional messenger sent down to invite them up. By the time they crossed over the last suburb, Max was quite certain at least half the pegasus living in the city were coming along. The other half, he knew, were likely in no condition to fly.

He'd had a look at the last hurrah of the lahars before, so he paid them little mind. A few minutes more brought the first of many little villages into view, and they seemed well enough, all things considered. Their wells hadn't been effected by the earthquakes, so they still had some water, and didn't need to rely solely on the river.

They reached the coast much sooner than he expected, likely due to magic being back, which allowed them to fly far more quickly and easily than they could without it. The weathermaster - an older blue and white mare with a mane that seemed permanently stuck in a stiff wind - flew over to meet them as they crossed over the shoreline and made for open water.

"We're gonna need to go out over deeper, colder water." She said as she matched pace to his right and a polite distance above Glenda. She pointed a hoof to well past the breakers.

"You'll want heavy filters!" Moonstruck shouted as she winged up briefly to join in the conversation. "They've been burning coal this whole time!"

"Yes, we've been told. They're already installed." She saluted then zipped back to the ship.

Moonstruck fell back into formation, and Max set his eyes on the horizon. They were a ways north of the ruins of Windmare Bay, over the Amin river delta. The ocean remained relatively shallow here until about ten miles offshore, then it dropped steeply into a deep chasm. He'd only flown out that far once on a survey mission. It was near the easternmost boundary of the shield, and used to be quite dangerous. Now, of course, it was perfectly safe, although he worried that they didn't have enough ships if too many pegasus needed to land for any reason. According to the old maps there were small islands about twenty five miles off the coast, but he had no idea if they were still there, or if they could reach them if need be.

The Equestrian ponies didn't seem concerned, so he pressed on. Once they were out over deeper water, the weathermaster returned, and sent everyone into a great spiral above the ships as they moved them into formation. Then she broke everyone off into teams. Each alicorn was sent to a separate team to spread the extra power around, except he and Moonstruck, since she was showing him what to do. It was encouraging to see Celestia and Luna easily and happily fall in with ordinary pegasus and follow the direction of the weathermasters. He'd often worried that Moonstruck was the exception to most other alicorns as she frequently claimed, but she was not as far off from the others as she seemed to believe.

They would need to form several waterspouts, it seemed. Max was dubious about this working, but both Moonstruck and Rainbow Dash assured he and the various Roanamian pegasus in their group that with this many ponies, it would be exceedingly easy. He didn't clarify that he didn't understand how it worked at all, but silently went along with it.

At first a few ponies began circling just above the rolling ocean, practically dipping a wing in the water as they did. Once they'd set the pace, and the size of the circle, others began filtering in around them. He found himself in the middle of the pack, following Moonstrucks lead. Once all of the ponies were circling in what was a fairly tight spiral they began to pick up speed. The water below began to swirl. The faster they went, the more it swirled, and the higher the ocean stretched into their wind tunnel.

And then, impossibly, it began to pull up sharply into a water spout.

"Eyes forward!" Moonstruck barked. "This is where it gets hairy!"

He gritted his teeth and focused to the front. The formation tightened, pegasus ponies flying so close to one another their wings almost touched. One wrong move would send everyone into the ocean – or worse. He could see the waterspout swirl higher in his peripheral vision as they circled tightly at breakneck speed. And then someone shouted to break, and he was gliding off behind Moonstruck, curving out and away from the waterspout as the pegasus dispersed. He looked back to see that it was being pulled up into the cloud above and was quickly gone. The ponies cheered and bumped hooves.

"I can't believe that worked!" He yelped as Moonstruck slowed so that they could converse easily.

"Of course it did!" She laughed.

"That was so weird!" A Roanamian mare added as she glided in close.

"Yeah, it was nice of the outlander pegasus to let us fly in there too." A stallion piped, drifting in on the other side.

Moonstruck let out a low chuckle.

Max pulled up a little to watch as other waterspouts were created, and the fleet sucked up the water it would need to make the clouds. The observation was brief, as they were summoned over to assist with one of the larger ships that had a higher capacity. All and all he assisted with a half dozen waterspouts, and observed a dozen more. Once they had collected enough water, the fleet lifted up to a few thousand feet and began emitting clouds from big pipes. Moonstruck swept in and plucked one big enough for several ponies and pushed it over.

"Okay, no more excuses. Land on the cloud." She grunted.

"Uh..."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"I… fall to my death?" Max grimaced.

"I know you haven't forgotten how to fly, since you're actively doing it _right now,_ so I don't know why that would be an issue." She rolled her eyes.

He felt himself blush. Reluctantly he moved over to hover over the cloud. Letting out a short breath, he lowered himself gingerly onto the cloud, then stopped flapping his wings. Impossibly he plopped down a few inches and stopped. It was cool, and damp, but not unpleasant.

"It's… like standing on a springy mattress!" He spun around in a circle, feeling the cloud give as he shifted his weight, watched the way the moisture curled around his hooves.

"Finally!" Moonstruck landed on the cloud as well. She turned around to watch as ponies began moving the clouds around, and Roanamian pegasus were invited to help. They were still reluctant to do so. At least until Sarah zipped in and snagged a cloud for herself. She herded it out to the middle of the formation then landed lightly on it like she'd been doing it all her life.

"See! Look!" She shouted. She bounced up and down and got the cloud raining. "Look at what we can do! Try it!"

She moved aside and waved to Glenda, whom very cautiously landed on the cloud next to her granddaughter.

That was it, that was all it took to get every last Roanamian pony to investigate the clouds. Landing on them, pushing them around, bouncing, kicking them apart. Max felt his heart swell with pride and relief and was about to say something to Moonstruck, but realized she was gone.

He spun around, trying to spot her among the excited pegasus, but she was nowhere to be seen. There was a crackle over the loudspeakers on one of the ships.

"I TOLD YOU SO!" Moonstruck barked over the PA system on the nearest ship. Many of the Roanamian pegasus waved her comment away, or stuck their tongues out at the ship. They must be in the Historical Society.

Max blushed a bit and chuckled. He sat down, content to watch the ponies play. Several Equestrian ponies gripped smaller clouds with all four legs, and were buzzing around with their wings, occasionally zapping each other with little lightening bolts. Twilight Sparkle was off to the side making a castle out of clouds, Celestia was up on her flagship speaking with a few ponies, while Luna stealthily snuck up behind her on a cloud and zapped her. Celestia sputtered and whirled on her sister, but Luna was already speeding away, laughter echoing in her wake.

This, apparently could not go without a response. Celestia excused herself, fluttered over to snag a cloud, then barreled off after her sister.

Not long after the alicorn sisters wound their way through the playing ponies zapping each other, Moonstruck, Windwake and Joseph nearly knocked him off his cloud as they seemed to be engaged in some sort of chaotic game of tag. Joseph and Moonstruck also didn't seem to hesitate to openly attack one another in the process. He knew by the color of the small fireballs Joseph breathed that they were low temperature, and he could only assume the magical blasts Moonstruck sent his way were low powered as well, but it was still a little nerve wracking to watch. Though he did end up watching. They were reckless, and absolutely fearless – and this was just a game! Now he understood how they'd been able to defeat Mother with relative ease. Individually they'd be difficult opponents; together they were unstoppable. Just playing they were a destructive force to be reckoned with, sending ponies scrambling out of the way whenever their game strayed too close to other fliers.

All too soon the weathermasters put an end to play time. Now it was time to put their new skills to work. Moonstruck flew back up to join him, and show him how and where to move the clouds. The ships had been cranking out small, agreeable fluffy clouds for the pegasus to play with, but now they were generating much larger, more unruly clouds that needed to be herded into a front, and piled high to make it a thunderstorm.

It was late afternoon by the time they finished getting the weather prepped. It would be near sunset by the time they got it back to the city.

"Why didn't we just make the storm over the city?" Windwake asked as they fanned their wings to generate a strong enough wind to get the front moving.

"I guess they thought it'd be more dramatic to move the storm in from the coast." Moonstruck shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. It's definitely showy. Usually a front this big we'd make on the spot."

"The ponies here really need a show. Well, you heard all the Roanamian pegasus – they didn't even know they could do this!" Moonstruck gestured to the various local ponies around them.

Windwake nodded, then shuddered. "I kinda don't want to hear the full version of your story. I mean, Sarah told us what to expect but – ugh! Makes my skin crawl!"

"It gets my pin feathers in a twist!" Rainbow Dash spat. She was a little ways beyond Windwake. "How could they _do_ that to pegasus ponies!?"

"Try living here." Evee grumbled from a little beyond Rainbow Dash.

Max felt bad for not having a real answer beyond Mother being legendarily petty. The conversation drifted off as the front began to lurch into motion. They were again split into teams; the strongest fliers were to keep the storm on course while the rest augmented the natural wind. Moonstruck was on the herding team, which meant he was too, along with a dozen pegasus; half from Equestria, half from Roanamia.

Early on they broke off a piece of the storm to send it drifting on the natural wind over the villages along the river. Moonstruck showed them how to drop the ceiling, and get the rain started, and how to slow the clouds so that they'd drop most of their load along a prescribed path. Once that was done they returned to the main storm to round up any clouds that had drifted off in odd directions.

The sun was riding low on the horizon as they moved the storm into Bridle-Dur. Max looked up and searched the sky for Celestia; spotting her above the tail end of the storm. She had her eyes focused on the west, and the sun that was sinking towards the horizon. Her horn was glowing. Was she… was she actually lowering the sun?

She seemed to sense his gaze and looked down. She winked. He blushed and looked away.

There was great excitement down below. He could see all sorts of barrels and buckets had been set up on rooftops. The tops of water towers had even been removed, and one large, mostly empty reservoir that he knew normally had a cover over it stood open to the sky. Ponies were also gathered on rooftops, pointing excitedly at the clouds, and the flights of pegasus bringing the storm in.

It was loud with all of the chatter and wind, but he could faintly hear singing below, a few lines here and there drifted up on the wind.

"Did they seriously get everyone singing?" Moonstruck asked, voicing his thoughts. She had her head tilted to the side, ears twitching left and right to try to pinpoint the source of the sound.

"Wouldn't surprise me." An Equestrian pony who's name he did not know said dryly. "Princess Twilight Sparkle's entourage can get anypony to sing, I think."

"Was that the fascinating magic they were talking about earlier?" Max furrowed his brow.

"Heh, probably."

Once the storm was mostly over the city, teams broke off to stop it from moving any further than the lowest of the foothills to the east and south. Moonstruck led them along the northern edge to make sure everything was settling in smoothly, then they all gathered on top of the clouds to wait for the signal to start the rain. Roughly ten minutes later, every pegasus jumped in unison and came down on the clouds. Thunder rumbled beneath them, through them, up through the higher cumulus portions where more advanced ponies were monitoring things.

"C'mon, lets head down!" Moonstruck grinned at him and gestured to a small gap in the clouds not far away. They could – he'd been informed – fly through the clouds if they wanted, but that was a more advanced technique that took some training, so instead they'd just left little openings for all of the Roanamian pegasus to funnel through once the storm was underway.

"This'll be a little wild, but it's short, so don't worry." Moonstruck added once they were flying together. He glanced back to make sure the Roanamian pegasus were following, surprised to see a few Equestrian pegasus simply drop through the clouds. Moonstruck reached the gap, tucked her wings and dove through it. Max followed suit and immediately regretted it. Winds buffeted him from all sides, sparks arced between he and the clouds, some of them concernedly large, and it was pitch black the brief moments between the static discharge. Then suddenly everything turned red, and he was certain Moonstruck had just led him straight into hell.

And then he exited the clouds to see the city below, the sun setting below the clouds to the west, and a steady downpour on his hindquarters. He leveled off behind Moonstruck and glanced back to make sure everyone made it through the gap all right. They looked about as startled as he did, but seemed no worse for wear. Moonstruck instructed them to head back to wherever they wanted to be and circled around to close the gap in the clouds. Then she barreled past him, trilling laughter in her wake.

"This is so awesome!" Evee squealed, also speeding past him. She spun into a tight barrel roll and let out a joyous whoop.

Jubilant pegasus swarmed the airways, while land-bound ponies danced in the rain below. It was probably acid rain on account of the pollution, but clearly no one cared. He… actually he didn't care either. He couldn't even remember the last time it had rained like this, and he'd never, _ever_ seen dancing in the streets!

The rain was cold, he was soaked to the bone, and Max wasn't sure if he was shaking from the chill or the excitement. But he felt good – better than he'd ever felt before. He laughed, and laughed hard as happy tears mingled with the rain streaking down his cheeks. He flexed his wings and sped up, heading after Moonstruck who'd met up with Glenda, Sarah and Joseph. Windwake swooped in next, then Evee, and a few others. This time he joined them in what was a more conventional game of tag that tapered off as the sun sank below the horizon and the temperature dropped.

Festivities were moved indoors, and he was flabbergasted to discover that Pinkie Pie had somehow found the time (and the supplies) to decorate the grand audience chamber in bright streamers and balloons, banners and multi-colored lights and goodness knows what else. There were long tables full of cookies and cakes, and other sweet treats the likes of which he'd never seen, and unlike every party he'd ever attended, it was all open to the public. Ponies that had relocated to the tower mixed freely with Historical Society ponies, whom wandered the halls with the few aristocrats who'd decided to stay put and cooperate, and Equestrian ponies meandered through them all. Seeing all three tribes happily coexisting almost made him cry again.

"Holy crab-apples, you work fast!" Moonstruck yelped when Pinkie Pie bounced over to greet them.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a trick, but I got everything here. There's only enough goodies for tonight though, so savor 'em." Pinkie Pie chirped, then turned to Max. "I hope you don't mind, me 'n Rarity raided some of your gem stashes to make a some of the decorations."

"No, not at all!" Many of the complicated ribbon-bows had gemstones in their hearts that reflected the various lights brilliantly. Too, some of the clear, cut crystals were dangling from fine wires, and when the lights hit them, they cast rainbows across the walls and ceiling.

"They've just been gathering dust down in the vaults!"

"Oh snap, is that the band that was playing at the Blue Rose the night you guys invited me down to the society?" Moonstruck was standing up on her hind legs to see over the crowd.

"Uh… _Apple Jammers_?" Pinkie Pie furrowed her brow and bounced a little higher. "Lindsey said they're really popular, and they were super happy to come play! Lots of bands were!"

"Yeah! Yeah that's them! Windwake you've gotta hear this!" Moonstruck dropped back to all fours and waded into the crowd.

"Discovering new bands, are we?" Windwake chuckled then trotted after.

"Buck yeah!"

Max had that weird feeling in his gut again as he watched the strange stallion follow Moonstruck.

"Uh oh… childhood friend."

He flicked an ear to the right, then looked down. Lindsey was standing next to him, also watching Windwake. She glanced lazily up at him. "Want me to go find out if they're… you know."

He gave her a dry look. "Know what?"

She eyed him for a moment. "An item."

It was as if someone had just dropped a ton of bricks on him. Max staggered then sputtered, finally realizing what Lindsey had been so cryptic about all this time. She had always been something of a matchmaker, though most of her matches tended to end badly, at best. She'd just never seemed to do anything that involved him, which he'd always assumed was because he was the one friend she just couldn't set up with anyone, and he'd been rather grateful for it. But then Moonstruck had shown up and… er… well….

"No! No. No, it's fine. None of my business." He hastily looked away, also realizing why Windwake bothered him.

"It would only take a moment. And she wouldn't suspect anything if _I_ asked." Lindsey continued eyeing him dryly.

"It's. Fine." Max growled, then decided to redirect the conversation. "H-how's it going with what's her name… Felicia, by the way?"

"Oh, pretty well. I'm surprised how well we get along living together after knowing each other only a couple of weeks. Though I guess we're both too busy to actually get in each others way." Lindsey shrugged. The first tower staffer to volunteer to help had taken quite the shine to Lindsey, and she'd returned the attention. They had been as inseparable as a pair could be, considering how busy everyone has been.

"Speaking of, I should go find her." She grinned cheekily up at him as she started to walk away, "just let me know if you change your mind."

He pulled his ears back, then decided grabbing something to eat would be a good idea. He waded into the crowd, for once glad that ponies tended to move aside for him. He wasn't as large and imposing as he had been under Mothers illusion, but he was still taller than most everyone here. After munching on a few sweets, and devouring some of the best tasting fruit he'd ever had, he made his way towards the stage.

There was no VIP area at this party. The dais upon which the throne sat had been turned into a stage, and there were no velvet ropes to separate anyone from anyone else. He almost wished Kyrenai was here to see it, but once she'd felt she was no longer needed, she'd planted herself in the dungeon. Max couldn't argue with her need to be jailed, as she most certainly had innocent blood on her hooves, but most of her actions had been ordered by Mother, and not necessarily of her own volition. Then again, she had – in her younger years – tortured and killed many ponies in an attempt to climb the ranks of the magic corps; going above and beyond Mothers orders for personal gain wasn't something that could be forgiven.

Mother was in the dungeon as well, though not in the same cell block as Kyrenai (even in her deep depression, Kyrenai wouldn't subject herself to _that_ ). They still didn't know what to do with her. They weren't even sure if she would live much longer, as she was exceedingly frail, and refusing to eat. He wondered if she could hear the party from down there.

He pushed those thoughts aside as he reached the stage. His height allowed him to easily scan the crowd in search of other unusually tall ponies. Moonstruck was not up here. Neither was Windwake. He turned and looked back, in case he'd passed them further back, but he still could not spot her. Princess Celestia was further back by a buffet table, Princess Luna was a little beyond her. Princess Twilight Sparkle was on the dance floor with a few others, Joseph was towards the back of the room with Glenda and Sarah.

Lindsey, Felicia and Wenchell joined him before he could continue his search. He wanted to keep looking, but Wenchell correctly pointed out that he rarely had time to actually enjoy himself at parties, and insisted he stayed put and listened to the band. He _did_ like _Apple Jammers_ , and he had never gotten to stick around for a full set, so he agreed. Moonstruck would wander back at some point.

The party rolled happily on. They moved back a ways after _Apple Jammers_ finished up their set, and they simply played a record for a while to give everyone a break. Ponies came and went, food was munched on, and Max continued to marvel at how excited, yet relaxed everyone was. Pinkie Pie was right, they _did_ need to celebrate.

During a quiet moment he found himself gazing up at the windows to watch the rain streak down them, making it look like the green eye was crying. Every so often lightening would flash and turn the darkened windows a bright scarlet, but what eerie effect they once had was thoroughly ruined by the rainbow lights, and balloons and streamers around the room, not to mention the music and laughter. It had been a long time since this hall had heard genuine laughter.

"Max!"

He started and blinked a few times before shifting his gaze to the side, where Lindsey and Felicia sat with Glenda, Sarah and Princess Luna.

"What?"

"You just looked like you were a million miles away." Lindsey chuckled softly.

"Oh. I was just wondering if we should try to recreate the old windows in here, or do new ones."

They all turned to look up at the windows on the opposite wall.

"That's a good question, actually." Lindsey grunted.

"Should probably do a few, at least. The really important ones." Felicia agreed.

"Rosalina, and Raysel. The founding of the city, and country." Max nodded.

"The dragon wars and Discord." Lindsey added.

They all knew what came after Discord, but they were unsure if they wanted it depicted on their walls for as long as the building stood (or someone eventually decided to change out the windows).

"It is important to remember the dark times." Luna said, apparently reading their thoughts. "It's far too easy to loose the light, if darkness is forgotten."

That settled that, then.

"Hey, after that we get to do new windows!" Lindsey perked up.

"Yes! Sarahs escape -" Max brightened as well.

"What?" Sarah yelped, throwing him a startled look.

He straightened up a little. "Of course! You did what no one has been able to do before!"

"By accident!" She chuckled and ducked her head.

"It doesn't matter" He shrugged. "Besides, you're the first Roanamian pony to set hoof outside the country in _a thousand years!_ That alone is noteworthy!"

"I guess." She furrowed her brow.

"We will probably have a window twin to yours in Canterlot." Luna smiled softly. "And the Trot artisans will create corresponding windows of Princess Moonstrucks deeds in the country to display in Trot Castle. I believe she already has a couple."

They murmured among themselves for a few moments, reminded yet again that they were part of the world once more.

"Speaking of, where'd Mooney get off to?" Glenda sat up on her haunches to look around.

"Uh, Sadie wanted her for something. That was a while ago though." Lindsey wrinkled her snout.

"Test, test. One, two."

They all turned towards the stage to see Moonstruck standing at the mic, and ponies setting up instruments behind her; including Windwake whom was fiddling around with a curious guitar. It looked like it had an electric cord coming out of it. Moonstruck stepped away from the mic to say something to Sadie – whom was a strawberry roan earth pony – nodded, then stepped back up to the mic.

"One, two, three, four, I declare a hoof war."

The ponies on stage snickered as the crowd started to drift towards the stage. Max found himself moving towards the dais along with everyone else.

Moonstruck grinned at the crowd. "Hi."

She turned around as an Equestrian unicorn said something to her. She nodded again, then took a step back as he cast a series of spells. Crystals that they'd placed around and above the stage while no one had been paying attention flared to life, sending patterns and colors spinning slowly over the walls, and crowd. They had also arranged three large screens above and to either side of the stage. At present, they were not doing anything.

"Oooo, now we're getting fancy!" Pinkie Pie chirped, appearing next to Max, bouncing excitedly.

"Do you know what they're doing?" Max asked, marveling at the pink ponies ability to bounce for very long periods.

"Yup! It's a surprise!" She giggled.

"Lindsey told us us about Princess Moonstrucks song down in the underground city." Twilight Sparkle said, wiggling out of the crowd to join Pinkie Pie, though she did not bounce. The rest of her group appeared around her. "I thought she didn't sing."

"All alicorns can sing." Luna shrugged slightly.

"Not that she _can't_ , just doesn't really." Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "It just seemed kind of weird."

"Uh, Twilight, you didn't sing until Pinkie Pie sucked you in to it. None of us did." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"That's… actually that's a good point. Although I wasn't an alicorn back then." Twilight Sparkle mused as Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Okay, you ready?" Moonstruck asked into the mic, eyes on a pony further back near the speakers. Apparently she was given the all clear, so she sang through a basic scale, and likely her full range, which spanned at least two octaves, possibly part of a third – he'd have to ask Sadie later.

The sound engineers made a few tweaks, then she did it again. She moved away from the mic to let a couple of other ponies sound check. Instruments were fiddled with and Max found himself tilting his head to the side as Windwake and several other ponies strummed their curious, electrically augmented guitars.

While letting other ponies sound check, Moonstruck spotted them then teleported down. She grinned at him, then whispered something to Princess Luna. Luna gave her a curious look, glanced at him, then whispered something back. Moonstruck replied, her grin growing more concerning. Max felt a little sliver of fear settle in the pit of his stomach when she teleported back to the stage, and Luna chuckled and shook her head. The slivers grew into jagged splinters when Sadie giggled and glanced impishly at him.

As much as he wanted to see – and hear – this, he was wondering if escaping back to his office was a safer idea. Unfortunately he didn't get a chance.

"Oh my, this is exciting!"

Max turned to see Lady Rosa picking her way carefully though the crowd, a pair of older fillies at her flanks to help guide her.

"Lady Rosa! It's good to see you! I trust the Temple staff has been treating you well!" Max beamed and sketched a short bow – not that she could see it.

"Ah, young Maximus! Yes, yes they're most helpful. They're very happy to have me, though I was never officially a priestess."

"Hah! You were more of a priestess than most of the phonies Lucena had operating the temple!" Lindsey quipped.

"So I've been told." Rosa smiled softly, then tilted her head to the side as she turned her blind eyes to Princess Luna. Max had an uncanny feeling that she could actually see the princess.

"Well met, milady." Luna dipped her head politely. She was smiling pleasantly, but her brows were furrowed slightly as she inspected the old mare.

"Well met, Your Highness. I had been told more princesses from the outside world had come to our aid, but I did not expect to meet you so soon." Rosa said slowly. Again, there was something about her expression that made Max think she could actually see Princess Luna. The old mare was very sensitive to magic, so it was possible she could sense Luna very strongly, and it only _seemed_ like she could see her.

"I did not expect Pinkie Pie to be able to throw a party together so quickly, although I should have known better." Princess Luna grinned, though it still did not quite reach her eyes. But then that slight quizzical expression vanished as if it had never been.

Max realized belatedly that Lady Rosa was almost as tall as Luna, and had a nearly identical build. In fact, despite her age, and a few silvery white scars criss crossing her faded roan coat, she stood tall and proud.

"Ah, is that who's responsible for all this?" Rosa turned her head and twitched her ears.

"Yup! That's me!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

"Well done! I haven't heard this much laughter and joy in ages!"

"You're welcome!"

Everyone chuckled.

"Why, hello there Bridle-Dur!" Moonstruck said into the mic as the main lights in the audience chamber dimmed. The crowed cheered and laughed. She cast a spell, and the screens above her sprang to life, projecting an image of the stage across them.

"Can you all see that alright?" She asked.

The crowd cheered.

"How 'bout ya'll way in the back!?"

The ponies at the rear of the crowd roared.

"Oooo, loud! You sure you're not all from Seaddle back there?" She chuckled. "Alright, lets get this show going!"

"So, Sadie here had a neat idea, and enough of the Equestria ponies played instruments – and happened to have said instruments with them – that we could play a set of foreign music for you guys!" She gestured to Sadie as the crowd cheered. Sadie waved from her stool next to her harp. Most of the rest of the instruments she played were likely tucked away behind the horn section. Max was not surprised she was up there, Sadie was a musical prodigy.

"I know those of you who were down in the underground city want me to sing _Shake It Out_ again, so I'm just gonna go ahead and get it out of the way." Moonstruck grinned as many Historical Society ponies gasped and bounced excitedly. Max could see Rosa perk her ears up slightly at the mention of the underground city.

"Anyway, this is _Shake It Out_ by _Flora and the Machine_. It's on their second album. And I'm properly warmed up this time so it should sound pretty decent!"

Max had felt it had sounded pretty decent when she'd sung it before, but now, with a band and backup singers who were familiar with the song, he honestly couldn't imagine it being sung better, no matter how much she insisted the original singer was far superior. The light show was spectacular as well, it was amazing what they'd been able to cook up on such short notice.

From there it was a plethora of different covers. _Queen_ , _Fall Out Colt_ , _Sapphire Shores_ , _Countess Coloratura,_ _Spinal Tap,_ _Amplified,_ _The Seatbelts_ _…_ band names went flying, Moonstruck and the others would tell anecdotes from concerts they'd been to, or odd bits of trivia about the bands between songs while they mixed up arrangements, or did a few technical odds and ends. It was familiar in some ways while also being entirely new. He could pick out elements similar to the chamber music Mother so loved, but then again they were twisted, reshaped, reformed, reworked in ways similar to, but also different from the music the townsponies carved out of the classical pieces. It was a fascinating experience all and all.

And then…

"Alright, we're down to the finale folks! Just a couple more songs!" Moonstruck chuckled, stepping back up to the mic after a trio of horn players had finished up their set.

"I'm afraid I am not as good as this as Princess Cadance, but it should work for a little while."

Max turned his head to match gazes with Princess Luna. She smiled slightly, then reached up with one forehoof and poked him right between the eyes and just below his horn.

"Boop."

Max blinked a few times as a strange sensation washed over him. It wasn't unpleasant. He honestly couldn't describe it.

"What was that?" Twilight Sparkle asked, furrowing her brow and looking back and forth between the two taller alicorns. Lady Rosa tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow.

"Just something to take the edge off." Luna backed away.

Something was most definitely amiss but… but for some reason he wasn't nervous. Princess Luna had clearly just cast a spell of some sort on him, a spell that Moonstruck and Sadie were probably involved with, which was most certainly cause for alarm given the context, yet he found himself only mildly concerned. Even a little amused.

"So anyhoo, as I'm sure many of you have heard by now, Max sang a song down in the underground city too." Moonstruck continued from the stage, she threw a glance in their direction. Luna nodded.

Fear did start to creep up on him now, but it wasn't the correct amount. He knew he should be heading for the hills, but instead he just blushed and ducked his head. Was he in control of his actions? Was this a dream?

"It's still a work in progress, so it's not really ready for a public debut. Buuuuut Sadie has happily supplied the band with something they've already got figured out by the same composer, that Max also happens to know." Moonstruck grinned at him as a number of Historical Society ponies gasped and cheered, and those closest to him nudged him playfully.

"Uh..." He shook his head. She knew he couldn't sing in front of a crowd like this – he'd only managed it back in the underground city because it was life or death. Granted, he wasn't particularly afraid right _now_ ….

"Aw c'mon!" Sadie giggled, stepping up to a second mic a little ways beyond Moonstruck. "It'll be a good warm-up for your coronation!"

Max blushed harder and ducked his head as the crowd cheered. He'd been trying to avoid thinking about that particular part of the coronation. The oaths of office were traditionally _sung_ by the king or queen upon receiving the crown – even Mother had done it, and Mother _never_ sang. It may well have been the one and only time she'd consent to it.

Someone in the crowd started chanting his name, others quickly began to pick it up as well. After a few moments he finally willed his body to move, shuffling through the throng of ponies as they parted excitedly for him. He made his way around to the side of the stage in something of a daze, half convinced he wasn't in control of himself, and half wondering why that didn't seem to bother him. It _should_ bother him, shouldn't it? Then he was up the short flight of steps, up on stage, under the lights, in front of hundreds of ponies, a band waiting for him. The crowd cheering, whistling, stomping their hooves, whooping excitedly.

He was pretty sure he must be purple by how hard he was blushing, but still he stepped hesitantly towards Moonstruck, whom happily stepped aside so that he could stand behind the lead singers microphone. She adjusted it for him, then retreated back to where the back-up singers were waiting.

"Uh… he-hello." He grunted, clearing his throat awkwardly. The crowd settled down.

"Er… guess I should introduce myself, in case you don't know… I'm uh, I'm Max. Maximus. Er, I guess I'm technically still the prince until we make all that official."

He shifted his wings nervously. "I… I don't know why they want me to sing this really, my voice isn't anything special."

A few historical ponies in the crowd barked out laughs. Sadie somehow managed to roll her eyes loudly.

"I'm – ha! I'm actually not even sure how I'm up here – they seemed to have conspired to cast some sort of spell on me!" He chuckled, cleared his throat again, and shifted his weight. Grimacing, he pulled his head away from the mic.

"Er, what am I singing, now?"

Sadie nodded to the band. They started playing. It took him less than a moment to recognize it. He stepped back up to the mic. This did happen to be one of his favorite ballads. They were playing it a little differently than usual, but it was an interesting twist.

"Ah, yes. Uh, this is _Call Me, Call Me_ by Conte Kanno, whom was a very famous poet and composer long ago. I've been helping Sadie translate and arrange many of the songs and sonnets. Perhaps even a few Equestrian ponies might know it, as it's from before the shield."

The enormity of what he was about to do hit him then, which shook him out of the sensation that he was being controlled somehow; making him remember what Princess Luna had said to Princess Twilight Sparkle. _Just something to take the edge off_. She'd taken his fear away. Or as much as she could. For he was still afraid. It just wasn't a crushing, inescapable fear like it usually was. It was… well, just a little stage fright, he supposed.

"You got this." Moonstruck stage whispered from behind him, just under the band which was doing an extended opening to the song, waiting for him to start.

He was not being controlled, he had a choice. He closed his eyes, waited a few beats, and choose.

" _I close my eyes and I keep seeing things_

 _rainbow waterfalls, sunny liquid dreams…."_

At first he focused on the song, doing his best to block out the crowd and not mess it up, but as he went, he found himself in something of a trance, being pulled in by the music, by the energy of the room as the lights swirled around him, and unicorns cast light spells to make the tips of their horns glow in the dark hall, and the rain streaked down the stained glass windows.

And then it was over, the roar of the crowd was a distant din as he bowed and stammered out thanks, and finally retreated to the safety of the friends he had down in the audience, where he really belonged.

His friends teased him a little once he was back among them, and Lady Rosa smiled with tears in her eyes, and he almost cried as well, but he wasn't entirely sure why.

Moonstruck reclaimed the mic, and belted out another _Flora and the Machine_ song to wrap everything up. His head was a little fuzzy from the spell, and being on stage, but he was fairly certain she'd said the song was called _Heartline_ _s,_ and the party-goers seemed especially enamored with it.

After that, the party was a blur. Laughing, carousing, more music. He didn't dance himself, but there was a lot of dancing. When he eventually retired well after midnight, he fell instantly into a deep, peaceful sleep.

And still it rained.

* * *

A/N: It took a lot of effort for Moonstruck to NOT to turn it into a Florence and the Machine cover band.

Also, Max's song, is of course _Call Me, Call Me_ by the _Seatbelts_ featuring Steve Conte. I imagine he has a very similar singing voice to Steve Conte.


	41. Epilogue 3

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

Although she could not see it because of the cloud cover, Princess Celestia lifted the sun over the horizon. While they had toned down the thunder and lightning late last night, it was still raining steadily; the drops sizzled slightly as they hit the dome-shield she had cast over herself while she hovered over the eastern portion of the city. Normally she'd raise the sun from an east facing balcony, but this morning she wanted to get a look at Bridle-Dur to see what a night of rain and revelry had done to it.

Nothing much, it seemed. It was quiet down there. Peaceful. Almost content. Buckets that had been placed outdoors and on rooftops were full, and the odd water towers within view were slowly filling. Puddles and larger water vessels reflected the wan early morning sun in pearly ripples, creating little points of light all over the city. The river looked no higher than it had been, but it did look a touch clearer. The tent cities they'd erected in cleared neighborhoods looked like they were all sound, and if there were any ponies still sleeping on the streets, she could not see them.

Content in the knowledge that the ponies of Bridle-Dur were enjoying a well earned lazy morning, she turned and headed back towards the tower, spotting Luna doing the same across the city. She had flown out to lower the moon over the west side of town.

They landed on a large balcony on the north side of the building, then wordlessly went inside, canceling their shield spells as they did so. No one had come to escort them, and they preferred it this way. They had business to attend to. Business they'd prefer was kept very quiet.

"What did you see?" Celestia asked once they were past the first floor, heading down a dimly lit stairwell towards the dungeons. There were sleepy guards at the doorways, but Luna simply nudged them back over into dreamland to let them pass without any further enchantments.

"The ponies of Bridle-Dur are still in shock, but I sense they will recover well, with time. Rebuilding the city has already begun to heal them." Luna nodded. "The rest of the country is very tense; many common ponies have rebelled, but they still have little military might to back them up from the air. All but one baron is in a panic."

"Maximus's cousin, Eira." Celestia frowned. Moonstruck had mentioned that she would be the one to cause trouble.

"Yes. I could find her in the Dreaming, but her mind is closed shut. I could only glean a few impressions of her. She is… more angry, than afraid, I think. And she is not panicking as the others are." Luna frowned as well.

"It's her move, then."

"Yes. The others, I think can be dealt with diplomatically. They have more resources than the south, but they will be lucky to survive the winter, the way they have been – and continue to – burn through them. It will not take much to topple them. I'm sure the young king will be able to deal with them without much assistance from me."

They rounded a corner to find themselves in a circular room with halls leading out from it in all directions. A guard snoozed at a desk in the center of the room. There was but one light, and it was a lantern that was burning low. The alicorn sisters exchanged bemused glances, then stepped quietly over to read what was on the desk. Locating the prisoner roster, they located the pony in question, then started off down the correct hallway.

The cell block was empty say for one prisoner. Lucena was housed in a cell about half way down the hallway. A lone shaft of gray daylight shone down through a tiny opening in the ceiling, but it was something of a lie. They were under ground, the light had been reflected down with several mirrors.

The pony herself was nearly unrecognizable. If they hadn't been told what had happened to her, Celestia certainly never would have known the old, red mare asleep on the cot was once an alicorn queen.

"So it's true." Luna murmured. "She has been completely stripped of her powers. Not even a cutie mark remains."

Celestia threw a glance at Luna.

"I could not find her in the Dreaming. I was wondering if she'd died during the party, before I went Dreamwalking. She certainly looks frail enough for it." Luna added to clarify.

The old mare stirred, shifting slightly on the worn, but clean mattress. She lifted her head and squinted at them. Only when she opened her eyes more did Celestia recognize her. Lucenas eyes had always been more befitting a hawk, than a pony. Something she'd always found unnerving.

"Figures." Lucena coughed, her voice weak and hoarse, possessing nothing of the power, grace and richness it once held. "I should never have believed a word that came out of that lying little git's mouth."

"I'm surprised you did, to be honest." Celestia grunted. "You never trusted anyone."

"I never _trusted_ her. I just didn't think much of her. Had me convinced she was some vapid fool of a duchess." Lucena let out a wheezing laugh and sat up on her cot. She was painfully thin, and didn't seem to be able to stop shaking. Her iron gray mane pooled heavily around her, and it looked as though she hadn't brushed it in days, for it was knotting up badly in places.

"Come to gloat, have we? Rub all of that friendship and love conquers all bullcrap in my face? You know it's meaningless. You sent a lowly trickster to take out your old enemy, you can't play that card with me."

"That trickster was able to beat you. And at your own game." Luna sniffed haughtily.

"A thousand years ago she wouldn't have stood a chance." Lucena cackled.

"A thousand years ago Princess Moonstruck would have _been_ you." Celestia quipped.

"Ha!"

"She's house Sol-Chronos." Celestia said evenly. "You said it yourself, she's a trickster. She's also the second sister. Her older sister is the queen."

Lucenas gaze unfocused. "The house of Sun and Time produced a _trickster_. Who's her mother?"

"Astromida."

She paused. "Doesn't look it. She's too bulky, must take after her father. I have no idea what her special ability is supposed to be. Cards? Lying? That… that wouldn't have flown with the elders. Expect a willowy oracle, get a chunky lying clown with card tricks." Her eyes remained unfocused as her voice took on a vaguely dreamlike tone.

"That would have been _fascinating_."

Luna frowned, Celestia kept her face blank.

"Why dragon magic?" She asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from whatever battles Lucena was imagining with a version of Moonstruck whom had been raised under the old ways, with the old expectations. A Moonstruck that had been beaten down for her eccentricities and unconventional methods. Celestia didn't want to think about that version.

"Why did you bind your son to dragon magic? What did you hope to gain?"

"A hybrid." Lucena sneered. "Why can't anyone tell when I'm telling the truth?"

"Because you seldom do it." Luna muttered.

"Ponies are pathetic creatures. Earth ponies are a joke; pegasus are an insult, and unicorns are just powerful enough to be annoying. Only alicorns achieve any real majesty. But _dragons_ … a dragons mind is an amazing place. Their grace, their power, their wisdom is unfathomable."

Lucena frowned. "I wanted it for myself, you know. But… by the time I figured out how to do it I was too old. My body didn't know how to deal with the power and it just… fizzled out after a few hours. Such a waste."

"A foal though, a foals powers are still developing. The magic pathways are still new, still malleable. And it couldn't just be _any_ foal, it had to be _my_ foal."

She shook her head. "I gave him the most amazing gift one could bestow, and he turns out to be a pathetic librarian. He had the power to move mountains, yet he never could grasp how to use it, no matter how hard I pushed him."

"Your sons true power lies in his kindness. He _will_ move mountains with that power." Luna half closed her eyes.

"As I said. Pathetic." Lucena sneered.

"Nadia would have been proud of him." Celestia murmured.

Lucena snapped her head up and glared daggers at her, her voice losing much of its frailty for a few, anger filled moments.

"Don't you _dare_ say that name! No one says that name, much less you!"

Celestia did not reply. She'd hit that nerve on purpose. Lucena likely knew better than she did how her sister would have felt. It probably tore at her. As everything about Nadia likely tore at her.

"It really was an accident, you know." Lucena grumbled after a short silence. She settled back down on her cot and threw a nasty look to the far corner. "Stupid feather-head dodged right instead of left. That blast wouldn't have come near her if she dodged the way she always did."

"Oh don't start that, you always dodged to the left when we quarreled!" She snapped after another short pause, still glaring into the corner. " _My_ left, of course!"

Celestia glanced down at Luna. Luna glanced up and shrugged. Luna occasionally encountered ghosts that still lingered in some way in the Dreaming. If Nadia was somehow still hovering near the land of the living, and more specifically in the far corner of the cell, Luna would know it. It appeared she was not.

"Ugh, could you just go?" Lucena grumbled, turning back to address them. "I don't need your gloating. Someone should be along with my breakfast soon, and I intend to ignore it.

Celestia sighed and shook her head slowly. "After all this time. After all of _this_ , and you still haven't learned anything."

Lucena didn't respond, just glared off into space.

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances then turned and left. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was likely the last time she'd see Lucena – not that she really _wanted_ to see her. Lucena was one of the few alicorns of her age that was still active in the world. She'd been alive for hundreds of years, and wielded astounding power. She had consorted with dragons, waged war, and ruled a country. And now she would be the first alicorn in many millennia to die. She would not die in battle, as alicorns typically went; she would die of her own stubbornness.

It felt strange to simply walk away from her. But, if she had any remorse at all she wasn't willing to show it. There was nothing that could be done for her, and it truly was not their place to do it. If Maximus wanted his mother to spend her last days peacefully behind bars, that was his business – and a degree of mercy that was truly impressive.

Or perhaps the most malicious thing he could possibly do. Lucena would absolutely relish a public trial, a chance to be in the limelight one final, spectacular time. Keeping her quietly tucked away down here largely ignored was probably torture for her. Celestia sensed that Maximus was not consciously tormenting his mother this way, it was simply practical to keep her locked up down here where she could do no harm. He certainly didn't need to deal with her more than he absolutely had to. She wouldn't put that sort of psychological warfare past Moonstruck, however.

The guard was still deeply asleep when they left the cell block. They strode silently across the circular room to another hall and started down it. The Historical Society had taken a few of Bridle-Dur's remaining elite into custody; most of them because of their especially cruel treatment of the pegasus in their control. They were to stand trial once things settled down, and according to the roster, the leader of Lucenas elite magical corps was at the very end of the block. She had surrendered herself, apparently. She still ate, but she had not spoken for over a week, and reportedly spent her time staring at the back wall.

Celestia was not a fan of imprisoning ponies, but it was ponies like these that unfortunately made the practice necessary at times. They were mostly asleep, looking ragged and deflated. If they were angry at their current situation they didn't show it in their slumber. The odd ponies that were awake cowered in corners as they passed, likely fearing some divine judgment from such powerful alicorns. One yellow unicorn was especially fearful, was muttering something in Old Roanamian under her breath as she watched them pass. Celestia recalled the occupant of that cell had been a high priestess of Lucenas dragon cult. She was one of several ponies in here for murder.

Kyrenai was asleep on her bunk in the last cell, and she did not stir when they approached. Celestia could feel the aura of power about her, but it was tinged with sorrow and a heavy guilt that even she could pick up on. Maximus had admitted that he did not know what to do with his half-sister. She had committed many crimes against pony-kind of her own volition, but unlike Lucena, she had seen the error of her ways, and was truly sorry. She had even surrendered, and helped with the search and rescue effort. Celestia felt she could be redeemed, given time, but it would be immensely difficult.

Celestia noticed that although Kyrenai's door was shut, it was not locked. There was no need for it to be locked.

She turned and looked back down the cell block. It unsettled her that many of the ponies in here were _not_ redeemable. That even with the regime change, and better days ahead, there would still be ponies without freedom.

"It is the way of things." Luna murmured, sensing her unease. "They were sucked into Lucenas lies, and believe them still."

"I know." Celestia sighed.

They left the dungeon as silently as they'd entered. Luna bid her good morning then retreated upstairs to sleep, while Celestia headed towards the kitchens to see about breakfast.

* * *

They let it rain for two whole days and nights. Moonstruck didn't really have any problems with working outdoors in the downpour, since that was fairly typical Trot weather, but Max insisted she stay indoors and do paperwork and such to avoid catching cold. Both she and Windwake explained that they were intimately acquainted with this sort of weather and actually found the rain quite welcome, but he would have nothing of it.

She supposed she _was_ a conspirator to get him to sing in front of everypony, so she owed him some homework, at least. It was mostly Sadies idea though; she'd just… crashed head first onto the bandwagon and whipped out some pom-poms and… yeah. It turned out all right, and he didn't seem particularly bothered by it, just bewildered. Especially when he asked Princess Luna the next day when the spell would wear off, and she told him almost absentmindedly that it had worn off half-way through the song – then apologized for not being better at taking a ponies fear away.

"Cadance is much better at it, really. I generally deal with sleeping ponies, whom are more suggestible while dreaming." She had said. The realization that he'd preformed in front of hundreds of ponies mostly on his own had only mildly horrified Max.

She ultimately did tackle that pile of paperwork, although it was difficult to stay awake while the task-at-hoof wasn't particularly interesting, and it was raining oh so pleasantly. She managed to get through it, and started typing up a more detailed report for Celestia, whom according to Twilight Sparkle, expected a pretty thorough run-down of what all had happened. Luckily she had pages and pages of notes that only needed organizing and cleaning up.

The morning of the third day they gathered at the top of the tower while ponies all around Bridle-Dur dragged themselves soggily into the streets, and onto rooftops. The cities rainy days were over for a little while; it was time to break up the storm and move the more gentle showers over the foothills. Later they would head back out to sea to collect more water to create storms for other regions – this time with a military escort. The rain delay in city-rebuilding had given them time to shuffle ponies around to the few airships Max had at his disposal, and the Equestrian ponies were more than happy to create a sort of hybrid magic/steam engine to cut down on the pollution until they could get some proper power crystals delivered. A few Equestrian ships had also been converted back to battle clouds to beef up the fleet a little.

"Rainbow Dash, if you would do the honors." Celestia regally dipped her head towards the rainbow-maned pegasus once everyone was finished piling onto the small platform at the top of the tower.

"Yes ma'am!" Rainbow Dash beamed and saluted. Ponies cleared a space around her as she crouched low. She sprang into the air with such force even Moonstruck slid back a few inches. Moonstruck jerked her head up just in time to see the pegasus pour on another impossible burst of speed just before power flickered around her. Then, with a great crack of thunder, she broke the sound barrier, the resulting shockwave sending rainbows through the thick overcast, breaking up the clouds in concentric rings, moving out towards every edge of the city and beyond to let in warm sunlight and tantalizing glimpses of bluer skies than Bridle-Dur has seen in decades.

Moonstruck felt her jaw flop open. She knew Rainbow Dash could do a sonic rainboom but….

"She did that flying _UP_!?"

"Heh heh, yep!" Applejack grinned and nodded.

"STRAIGHT UP!?"

"Can't you do it too?" Twilight Sparkle laughed.

"Yeah, but I cheat and use magic!" Moonstruck barked as Rainbow Dash fluttered to a landing in the center of the tower.

"And I can't – well actually I've never tried doing it flying straight up..."

"Well done!" Celestia grinned, she then turned and nodded to the awestruck weathermasters.

"All yours."

They shook themselves then started barking orders. "Alright! Lets get these clouds out of here! All teams go!"

"C'mon Grandma!" Sarah bounced in place then bolted to the edge. "C'mon! C'mon!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Glenda ambled forward and hopped easily into the air after her excited granddaughter. Everywhere pegasus were taking off and forming up with the Equestrian weather ponies to start moving the storm clouds away. Laughter echoed off the buildings and diminishing cloud cover, as more and more sunshine and blue sky was revealed. Luna excused herself to get some sleep.

"Did she just… do… the thing?" Max asked, still a little dazed from the sonic rainboom. His eyes followed Rainbow Dash as she and Fluttershy zipped off with Sarah and Glenda.

"Yes, yes she did." Moonstruck chuckled.

"I had no idea common pegasus could do that!"

"Rainbow Dash is special." Twilight Sparkle chuckled as well. "And kind of crazy."

"Kind of? She does that without a shield spell to take some of the impact." Moonstruck shook her head. "The air resistance when you're going that fast is absurd!"

"Downright dangerous." Windwake grumbled.

With the next round of water collection set for sometime in the afternoon, they decided to head down to see how the city had fared in all the rain, and do some heavy lifting if need be. Unlike the fragile, tired hope of the two weeks since the shield had fallen, the citizens of Bridle-Dur were absolutely buzzing with excitement. Moonstruck found herself ambling merrily down the streets with Windwake, Pinkie Pie and Joseph; singing, cracking jokes, embarrassing Max (and Twilight Sparkle at a few points) whenever possible, and generally making fools of themselves - much to Celestias amusement.

Despite all the activity, it was peaceful. Foals played in puddles and kicked worn balls around, while adults who weren't involved with the rebuilding gathered around patches of moss or weeds that had grown miraculously in the rain. Moonstruck was surprised by how many dandelions had popped up overnight; she had assumed that here would be one of the few places they couldn't just manifest out of nowhere.

Ponies hid as they wandered around, but gradually grew more curious as they stopped to chat with Historical Society ponies, or play kick-ball with foals, or splash through puddles. They helped out at a few construction sites for a while, but it quickly became clear that with the equipment the Equestrian ponies had brought, there was little need for them.

So they headed up to the temple of Rosalina to check in with Lady Rosa, whom Moonstruck found to be a fascinating old mare. Rosa had quite a bit of clout in the city, and was apparently the last remnant of house Thornbriar, going by her cutie mark, although she wouldn't admit to it. She wouldn't admit to a lot of things, Moonstruck noticed. Although it was curious, Moonstruck wasn't particularly concerned, as the old mare was clearly very kind and insightful. Surprisingly she did not wish to be on Max's council, preferring instead to take over as head priestess at the temple of Rosalina – which is more or less what she was doing down in the overgrown park. She preferred to work directly with ponies, instead of on some detached cabinet.

Celestia seemed to find her fascinating as well; Moonstruck happened to catch a flicker of recognition or perhaps realization while they chatted.

"How long?" Celestia asked. It was a strange question considering they'd just been puzzling over the dandelions that had sprung up throughout the city.

"Oh, ages, dear. Now, I do believe these are Princess Moonstrucks doing." Rosa affectionately nudged the nearest little yellow flower with a front hoof.

"Eh?" Moonstruck stared down at the dandelion at her own hooves. She didn't recall going around planting them.

"Thornbriar was once a powerful house. Very powerful." Celestia continued.

"Indeed it was." Rosa agreed, then turned to Moonstruck. "You don't remember, do you?"

"Can't say I do."

"It ruled Roanamia for many generations. No breaks in the alicorn line until the last king."

"Yes, it was rather impressive! Most lines have gaps here and there, form my understanding. From when the alicorn genes skipped a generation or two. Or three." Max supplied helpfully, always happy to talk Roanamian history.

Moonstruck was torn between Celestias cryptic line of questioning, and the faint pull of her own magic that was indeed pulsing lightly through the dandelion. She _did_ do this. But she couldn't fathom _when_ , much less _how_.

"Something stubborn that can survive anywhere." Rosa said slowly, then shook her head. "I suppose it would be an unintended side effect, after all."

"You been hittin' the potato spirits?" Moonstruck quipped.

Rosa laughed. "Not for a long time. Ah well, regardless of whether or not you remember, those plants may well keep many a pony from starving."

"That's something." Moonstruck shrugged. They weren't the cultivated variety, so they wouldn't be much of a meal, although they were prolific enough that ponies _could_ cultivate them and probably grow crops of them indoors over the winter to augment the rations that should be arriving any day now. That was a big something, now that she thought about it. She just wished she knew what she'd done.

"More than I was ever able to do." Rosa smiled a little sadly and shook her head.

"But you've done so much!" Max gasped. "You've been the spiritual core for the city for – for decades! Er… no offense!" He ducked his head and blushed. "I mean, uh… not to imply that -"

"I'm _old_. There's no need to dance around it." Rosa chuckled, then heaved a heavy sigh.

Moonstruck tuned the others out and focused more firmly on the plant at her hooves. It had one unopened bud. Without casting a spell of any sort, she gave it a tiny trickle of magic to amplify what was already in there. The bud opened to reveal a shaggy yellow flower, which then wilted and was quickly replaced by the fuzzy seed head. With the extra magic she could feel it, feel the energy run down through her hooves, to the dandelions in the courtyard, down into the earth then out into the city, and even beyond into the foothills. And there was a thread that went deeper, but she couldn't quite place how far it went, or where it was, exactly. It reminded her a bit of the underground city.

Maybe that thread was the last connection to the pocket dimension. Maybe when she blasted the city the magic seeped out into the soil. There's really no telling what could happen in that sorta inter-dimensional, high energy, unstable reality kind of situation.

"Huh." She picked the stalk with it's crown of fluffy white seeds, then blew on it to send the seeds flying on the breeze, watching as they drifted away.

"Do… did you remember?" Max asked.

"Not really."

* * *

"I was a fool." Lady Rosa said softly as the younger ponies drifted out of earshot to continue examining the mysterious dandelions.

Celestia did not look at her, but flicked an ear in her direction.

"In case you were wondering."

"I can't imagine it." Celestia glanced down to catch a quick grin from the old mare. She realized, that when viewed from this angle, Rosa had long scars on her back on either side of her spine, just past her shoulders. Right about where wings would be, if she were a pegasus.

"The last daughter of a dead house, raised in secret, trained for one thing." Rosa shook her head. "That thing was not peace, nor compassion. Certainly not wisdom."

Celestia nodded slightly, although she was unsure if Rosa could detect it, or if it mattered. How old was she? Celestia wondered. Old enough for no one to remember what she once was. Old enough for whatever had happened to fade out of history. Possibly even old enough for Lucena herself to have forgotten her.

"Not that either really mattered with the state we were in; the Thornbriars that is. There was little thought for anyone else. We claimed to be liberators, but we really only wanted revenge, to rule. I was to be their weapon. But…."

She shook her head slowly. "With so much hatred in my heart, I never stood a chance. I was sightless before Lucena blinded me. Flightless before she ripped the wings from my body."

"It took years to stop feeling like I was falling. I'm sure the potato spirits didn't help." She smirked again, then frowned. "When I finally realized where we – I – went wrong, it was far too late. I was powerless to stop her anymore. I'd wasted everything in one reckless afternoon."

"Though I suppose spending so much time in the gutter made it easier to see the stars, once I remembered to open my eyes, so to speak."

"You certainly knew what _not_ to do." Celestia grinned tightly and glanced down at Rosas cutie mark. It was a pair of crossed swords with thorny vines wrapped around their hilts. She likely would have been a protector of the realm, had things gone differently.

"You have no idea." Rosa chuckled. She inclined her snout towards the ponies that were now about to the far edge of the courtyard.

" _That one_ is scary." She wrinkled her snout and inclined her head towards Moonstruck. "I've lived long enough to learn about power. Where, when and how to wield it, what it does to a pony. How it effects us all."

She closed her eyes. "Maximus and Twilight Sparkle are young, naive, hopeful. They haven't had a real taste of power yet. It may be a long time before they do. Max has done some terrible things to survive, and those things will haunt him his entire life; keep him from delving too deep, I think."

Lady Rosa tilted her head to the side. "Twilight Sparkle is a made-alicorn, is she not?"

"She is." Celestia was taken aback. "I'm surprised you can tell."

"Her energy is different. She's powerful on her own, but her alicorn magic is borrowed." Rosa shrugged. "Which is why, I feel she will never fully adapt to being an alicorn, which is not a bad thing. Remembering her roots will keep her grounded."

"But Moonstruck..." She shook her head slowly. "Moonstruck is… I don't know what to make of her. Her power is broad, and deep. I sense no affinity to anything, no direction or purpose about her."

"Lucena called her a trickster." Celestia murmured.

"Ah, of course." Lady Rosa chuckled. "Tricksters quite often have broad skillsets that defy explanation."

"And expectations." Celestia smiled faintly.

" _Especially_ expectations."

* * *

A few days later Moonstruck cantered invisibly into a hallway that princess Celestia requested as a meeting place to discuss her report. It was a long gallery of ancient stained glass windows on one wall, and mirrors on the other. It was in a relatively unused portion of the tower, as it was fairly high up, though not as private as an office. She hadn't been in this portion of the tower before, but she was fairly certain it was not far from Lucenas solar.

Moonstruck canceled her spell as she approached the elder alicorn.

"Sorry I'm late. A bunch of fillies ambushed me down by the cafeteria and it took a while to break free." She panted, coming to a stop and dropping into a clumsy bow.

"Their ringleader's gonna be a complete menace when she grows up. Might have to change her name from Hope, to Doom."

Celestia laughed softly. "It's quite alright. I lost track of time looking at the windows. Some of these used to be down in the grand audience chamber. That entire wall over there used to be in the main entrance of the tower." She inclined her snout to a half dozen windows towards the opposite end of the hall.

Moonstruck nodded then made an effort to steady her breathing.

Celestia watched her for a few moments, then summoned up a small table with Moonstrucks report on it. She tapped it with her hoof.

"You've had quite the adventure here."

Moonstruck nodded again.

Celestia stared down at the stack of papers, but she did not see them.

"I didn't know what to expect when I sent for you. You were rarely spoken of, in your mothers letters – official or otherwise.

"Starshine." Moonstruck corrected, blinking a few times. "You sent for Starshine."

Celestia smiled softly. "I sent for _you_ , and instructed your sister to keep you in the dark. Although I had initially forgotten that Astromida had retired when I thought of your family, the transfer of power was announced through official channels."

Moonstruck straightened up out of the slouch she'd slid unconsciously in to. Somehow it had never occurred to her that Canterlot would have already known her mother had left through normal communications between Trot and Equestria.

"I also already knew Starshine couldn't possibly leave for what could be a lengthy and dangerous quest."

"I _knew_ I was expendable!" Moonstruck quipped.

"Hardly!" Celestia chuckled. She grew quiet again, and furrowed her brow.

"You were very lost when I first met you. So unsure of yourself, of your abilities. A far cry from the filly whom had the – I'll be brutally honest here – recklessly foolish idea to slay dragons with a sonic rainboom on two separate occasions. And the luck to walk away from it unscathed."

Celestia stepped towards the nearest mirror and touched the tip of her horn to it. The mirror rippled like water, and a memory of Moonstrucks first real briefing in Celestias office appeared. She remembered it well, the pacing, the fear, the bewilderment, the sickening feeling of inadequacy. What was shocking was her appearance.

Moonstruck stepped back a little so that her reflection was on the same plane as the memory. Celestia paused it so that she could stare long and hard at herself. She knew she'd grown – and grown a lot, but she'd been naive to think the most dramatic changes were her wings and mane. She was nearly half again as tall as she had been, and while she certainly weighed more _now_ , it was almost all muscle. She almost didn't recognize herself, it really felt like she was looking at someone else.

"Guess that's why all the tabloids kept insisting I was pregnant." She muttered. She'd always been the short and pudgy one, which apparently meant she'd needed to work harder to grow into her tall, powerfully built draft genes that happened to like donuts a lot.

"More than that. Your growth was stunted." Celestia shook her head sadly. "Sometimes life throws you curves, but… well I fear it just didn't throw you anything at all after the second dragon."

"Yeah." Moonstruck shook her head, the aimlessness and lethargy she'd felt before accepting the mission starting to creep up on her. It made her want to go out and demolish a building.

"It got so quiet there was no point keeping in shape. No point doing anything. Then Mom left and..." she shrugged. "I don't think she ever knew what to do with me. I certainly never knew what to do with myself."

"Do you know now?" Celestia asked.

"Not really." She furrowed her brow. "But… I think I'm okay with that now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah I don't… I don't really know how to explain it." She stared at her old self for a few long moments as the spell faded. Her mind drifted to the Canterlot Train station back in the spring, when she'd knocked the weather vane off the roof. She'd promised herself that she'd be able to take off effortlessly one day. She'd been doing it for months now. She could even take off so powerfully that the force of her jump left a crater.

Celestia gazed quietly at her for a long time, then chuckled softly and shook her head.

"I'm too used to listening to Twilight Sparkle tell me about what she's learned about friendship on her adventures. I'm at a loss, as to what to ask you, much less tell you."

"I don't follow." Moonstruck tilted her head to the side.

"Cadance told me that you make friends easily, and it may well be the one thing I don't have to worry about." She smiled. "She was right."

She turned her gaze to the windows on the opposite side of the hall. "You entered the Broken Mountains alone; befriended a dragon; rescued an old pegasus whom later turned out to be the true queen of Roanamia. Allied with Lucenas son, helped him lead the rebellion to free his ponies, and defeated two of the most dangerous beings to ever set hoof on this world. You had the audacity to pull it off largely with smoke and mirrors, and the altruism to do it without a thought for yourself, or your own safety."

"That would be the TL;DR version." Moonstruck shrugged, still not sure where Celestia was going with this. "Though, for the record, I really just wanted to go out for ice cream, and bring a few thousand of my friends with me. Can't do that if there's a pesky shield and an overbearing security guard hanging around."

Celestia grinned then closed her eyes and shook her head. She heaved a soft sigh.

"Go play, princess."

Moonstruck took this as a dismissal. She bowed, then spun and trotted back down the hall. Twilight Sparkle had said Celestia would want a detailed report, and likely some equally detailed answers to any follow-up questions, but that wasn't bad at all.

* * *

"I'm surprised you didn't tell her she's barking mad, and just did something nopony was able to do in fifteen hundred years. Probably _because_ she's barking mad."

Celestia flicked an ear back and turned, not terribly surprised to see Luna appear at the far end of the hall. This was likely an apparition of Luna, as the pony herself was asleep downstairs, last she knew.

"I couldn't find the words." Celestia shrugged helplessly. "She has no real concept of her own power, and I doubt she would believe me if I told her."

Luna grunted and nodded, leaving her corner and drifting dreamlike over to stand next to her. She didn't usually astrally project for ponies that were awake, but it was possible she feared Moonstruck would have noticed her there, if she had simply been invisible.

"She does mention that Lucena was well past her prime, in her report. Complacent. And suffering from the beginnings of dementia. Magmanus was in a similar state, by Josephs account." The vision of Luna frowned. "She attributed much of her success to it, and King Maximus' already having formed a rebel force."

"Yes. I suppose she isn't wrong." Celestia pursed her lips. "But at the same time…."

"I know. She is already extremely powerful." Luna sighed, then wrinkled her snout. "She and Discord should never meet."

Celestia fought back a laugh. That would certainly be an entertaining conversation, but Luna was absolutely right. Discord would feel that Moonstruck was edging in on his territory. And Moonstruck. Would. Not. Care. It would drive him up the wall. It was generally a good idea to avoid things that drove Discord up the wall. Especially if that something prompted him to become competitive. There could be a lesson in it somewhere, but getting to that point was not something she was willing to put Equestria through.

* * *

Moonstruck was just about back to the elevator when a wall panel swung open to her right. Max stumbled out of it covered in cobwebs. Little sparks of electricity and/or magic arced over his body, causing him to twitch every few seconds as the sparks hit various areas. He was levitating a trio of ornate wooden boxes, and seemed to be a little bit giddy.

"You went on an adventure!" She quipped.

He started and looked over at her, grinning sheepishly. "Er, yes I decided I should go retrieve the crowns. Ah, mother had some magical traps set up to annihilate anyone not of Rosegard blood, so..."

"You went by yourself." She wished he would have mentioned something, she could have been his spotter, at least. It was good that he was taking risks like this though.

"Yes. Most of the worst of the spells were gone, of course, but a few physical boobie traps were still in place." A spark hit him in the ear and he flinched spectacularly.

"So what else did you get?"

"Oh, well..." he set the boxes down, then opened the top one. "This was the coronet Princess Nadia wore before she was acting queen. I think it would suit Sarah quite well."

The crown was a delicate silver tiara with twining red roses fashioned out of rubies. Although she doubted Sarah would wear it for anything other than important events, she nodded her approval. It was pretty tasteful, as crowns go.

"And this one was Queen Aurora's crown from _after_ she abdicated the throne. It's perfect for Glenda." The second crown was a simple circle of gold, with roses embossed in the front of the band. It was something Glenda might potentially wear more frequently than once in a blue moon.

He opened the last box. "And this one is Grandfathers crown."

It was easily the most gaudy and impractical of the headgear; even if it was fashioned more after a battle helmet, than a crown. Gold, jewel encrusted, and with pokey bits in places there really shouldn't be pokey bits.

"I'm guessing you're gonna commission a new one, at some point." Moonstruck winced.

"Yes." Max nodded. "This is just for the coronation. Really, they _all_ are. These really all belong in museums."

He closed up the boxes, stacked them neatly, then levitated them. "What were you doing up here?"

"Celestia wanted to have the debriefing meeting up here for some reason." Moonstruck shrugged. "Guess she wanted to scope out the windows."

"Ah, yes, mother did move many of the stained glass windows up to this level. She really didn't like to share."

"I noticed."

They meandered back to the elevators, then zipped down to the more occupied portions of the tower. Max got off on the 25th floor to stash the crowns with the rest of the things they'd been gathering on and off for the coronation – which she was amazed to realize was only a week out, now. Moonstruck kept going down to the fifth floor to help get set up for Cadances arrival. They'd received word that the fleet from the Crystal Empire would be here by late afternoon, and the announcement had sent them into a flurry of activity.

There was a lot of more long-term planning going on too. Equestrian ponies would be staying on to help in a number of areas; chiefly weather management, magical energy conversion, and defense. She already knew a number of Crystal Empire ponies would be doing the same.

There wouldn't be a city-wide party for the Crystal Empire's arrival, just a small official welcome, then a lot of unloading, and distributing food, water, and other goods around the city. Although Pinkie Pie had miraculously restored her faith in parties, now really wasn't the time.

Before she knew it, the fleet from the Crystal Empire was spotted over the southern foothills, and she had to drop what she was doing to make herself presentable.

"Did you see the fleet? Cadance brought a huge caravan!" Twilight Sparkle pranced in place as Moonstruck trotted over to where everyone was gathering in the main docking bay.

"I'm amazed she could gather up so much in only a few days!"

"No, I just got out of the shower." Moonstruck shook her head, then came to a stop. She watched Max for a few moments. Lindsey was with him, and Glenda, but he was having a very hard time today. Maybe he was still rattled from the boobie traps Lucena had set up.

"S'cuse me." She grunted and shuffled over to the end of the red carpet.

"Is – oh dear, I keep forgetting to ask – is the Crystal Empire still a seat of power? I know over a thousand years ago it was the center of the magic world..." Max blurted as soon as she stepped over.

"Yes and no, it was actually lost for a thousand years too. King Sombra did a number to it, but Twilight Sparkle and her friends set everything straight when it reappeared a couple years back." Moonstruck patted him on the back with one wing, causing Lindsey to duck, since she was standing on that side.

"Don't worry, Princess Cadance is really, really nice. It's kind of her thing."

"It… actually is." Sarah added, laughing very softly.

He nodded, swallowed hard, then settled down somewhat.

Princess Cadances flagship glided into view a few seconds later. Like Celestias flagship it was a great battlecloud, but unlike the Equestrian ship, it was made of cut crystal, and sparkled brilliantly in the late afternoon sun. Many ponies gasped at the sight of it, Moonstruck included, as she'd never seen anything like it.

The ship docked, then extended a long, shining ramp. Down it came ponies pulling wagons of goods, followed by Cadance and Shining Armor, then a small honor guard, then more ponies with wagons.

Cadance let loose a dazzling grin as she approached.

"King Maximus, I presume?" She sketched a short bow. "Well met!"

"W-well met, Princess Cadance." Max returned the short bow, blushing darkly.

"It was long before my time, but Roanamia and the Crystal Empire were friends, once. I hope we can be friends again."

"As do I, Your Highness." Max nodded solemnly.

"Good, because I think we brought most of the food for the pot luck!" Cadance laughed. With that, the official pleasantries were over, and the gathered ponies erupted into excited chatter.

Max again found himself in the midst of older, more powerful alicorns as Celestia, Luna and Cadance happily bombarded him with questions. Wait, was Cadance even older? Moonstruck vaguely recalled she was near her own age. Although Cadance had been in some sort of leadership position for quite a bit longer, which made her seem older. Moonstruck was not-so-quietly glad she'd likely never be in a leadership position. At least not a long term one, just being an acting authority here was taxing, and she was only doing it part time!

"I still can't believe you used a puppet to fool Queen Lucena!"

Moonstruck turned and looked down as Twilight Sparkle sidled over after speaking with her brother for a bit.

"Eh, it was the best I could do on short notice. I still suck at solid illusions. I take it Celestia let you read my report." She grinned.

"Heh heh, yes!" Twilight Sparkle ducked her head and blushed a little. "I never would have thought of it. And your spells! That was some seriously advanced stuff!"

"Oh, no the Quantam Thaumology was Lindsey – I'm pretty sure I mentioned that." Moonstruck scowled. She'd been careful to cite sources, and put credit where credit was due. Joseph and Glenda were basically co-authors of the report. Joseph even sat down and wrote out everything he knew about the distortion, and navigating the Broken Mountains, so he had his own section.

"Not that – I already talked to Lindsey about that, and it's waaaay beyond me anyway. I mean all of your nodestones, and linked spells, and how you were able to set up things with voice commands so that anypony could use them!"

"Oh yeah. It's actually pretty easy, just a lot of layering of simple spells. My dad came up with the linked spells trick, and he kind of used my siblings and I as test subjects to work out the bugs." She shrugged. "So I've been messing around with that kinda stuff since I was a foal."

"But the formulas..." Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "It took me three read-throughs to figure out the spells you used for the necklaces, then a good four or five attempts to do it myself. And you enchanted _hundreds_ of them! I still can't figure out the voice recognition spells!"

Now Moonstruck was starting to blush. Twilight Sparkle was a notorious scholar, but Moonstruck hadn't thought she'd done anything particularly spectacular, magically speaking. Then again, working directly with runes was generally the more technical side of things, even if the process itself was pretty simple, once you got the hang of it. Most ponies didn't do it, apparently even Twilight Sparkle hadn't wandered into that branch of magic. Now that she was thinking of it, she _had_ completed her fathers chain reaction spell, and made a few variations and additions to it. And a couple of framework type spells she'd cooked up on the fly were entirely her own creations.

"Anyway, I wish you'd been able to bring back the Starswirl journal. It would have been an amazing addition to his body of work." Twilight Sparkle shook her head sadly.

"I grabbed it." Joseph grunted, as he was wandering past. "It's in with the other books we saved."

Twilight Sparkle whipped around to gape at him.

"What? When?" Moonstruck blinked back her surprise.

"When I went to do a final sweep of the university library, I grabbed it from the upper floors. It was right where we left it from the last time we went down there." Joseph shrugged. "Figured it'd be a good idea to bring it along."

Twilight Sparkle let out an excited squeal.

"Uh… I guess I'm showing you where it is." Joseph grimaced and spun around. Twilight Sparkle happily trotted off after him, Spike scrambling to keep up.

"What was that all about?" Cadance asked as the other alicorns finished up embarrassing Max.

"Apparently Twilight Sparkle is a very big Starswirl the Bearded fan, and the Royal Roanamian library happens to have a never before seen journal of his." Moonstruck chuckled.

"Yeah, that would do it." Cadance chuckled as well. "It's good to see you again. You look more at peace now."

"Everypony keeps saying that!" Moonstruck rolled her eyes and laughed lightly.

"Well, it's true!" Cadance laughed. "Shining Armor, doesn't Princess Moonstruck look more at peace?"

"Uh, sure?" He leaned around Buster, and gave his wife an odd look. "I don't think we ever really talked..."

Cadance rolled her eyes and waved him away, trying and failing to hide smile. He sighed and shook his head.

The very informal welcoming party broke up a short time later, so that they could start overseeing the distribution of all of the goods the Crystal Empire had brought. It was a very rare sight to see an alicorn down in the midst of a project, pulling their weight. Absolutely unheard of for _six_. And between the six of them, not to mention the hordes of common ponies, it did not take long to get the goods unloaded, and to distribution centers.

Moonstruck noticed a lot of photographers running around throughout the day. Some Roanamian, some Equestrian. She wondered how the barons were reacting to all of the strange news coming out of Bridle-Dur. She kind of wanted to fly over to the nearest major city to find out. It was probably pretty funny.

Although there was no big, city-wide party at the end of the day, there was a small informal and very chill gathering in one of the lounges on the 35th floor. Moonstruck found herself stretched out on a big floor cushion, playing cards with Windwake and a few other ponies, munching on dried fruit and sipping cider. There was no live music, but someone had put a jazz record on, and nopony seemed inclined to talk above the music more than they had to, so conversation was at a comfortable murmur.

"Move over, I wanna lay on the cushion." Windwake grunted after a while.

"Pfff, does it look like there's room?" Moonstruck didn't look up from her cards. It was a large cushion, but she was a large pony. Plus she was disinclined to get up out of her comfy sprawl.

"We can both fit if you fold your wing." He nudged the offending appendage in question.

"It's tired. It's gotta take up the other half."

He butted into her flank hard, causing her to sputter and roll completely over, and off the cushion. He grinned cheekily at her as he flopped on the cushion. She glared. Moonstruck stood up, stepped back onto the cushion, then flopped heavily on it, sending him rolling off the other side.

"Now, now, you two can share." Glenda admonished absently, squinting down at her cards. She leaned over and showed them to the pony on her left. "This is good, right?"

"See, you've gotta share!" Windwake huffed. "She's the queen, right?"

"Still not the boss of me!" Moonstruck grinned.

Glenda shot her a sharp glare.

The grin slid off her face. Moonstruck scooted over and reigned in her sprawl so that Windwake could fit on the cushion as well.

"Ha!" Windwake chortled before sitting daintily on the free half.

Glenda glared at him as well. He pulled his ears back and ducked his head.

"Sorry."

"You really _are_ the queen!" The pony to Glendas left gasped. He was an Equestrian pony, and not familiar with how Roanamians determined whom was royalty.

"I'm a grandmother, dear. We're all queens." She calmly played her card. The other ponies giggled.

"Well, to be fair, Windwake's grandma is a lot like you." Moonstruck noted, lazily inspecting her hand. "So he's pretty well trained."

Windwake nodded.

"Oh, good."

"Ah, there you… are."

Moonstruck glanced up as Max came to a stop a polite distance beyond the circle of card-playing ponies. The frown he'd been wearing magically disappeared as soon as their eyes met.

"'Sup?"

"I was looking for Glenda, actually. Princess Cadance would like to speak with you."

"Oh, lovely. I don't think this is going well." Glenda let her cards fall to the floor, and stood up slowly, but not shakily.

Max threw one final, contemplative frown over his shoulder as he and Glenda walked away.

"Oh, _that's_ where all of those aces went." Evee muttered, taking a peek at Glendas cards. She flipped them over. Glenda had all four.

"It's a good thing we're not playing poker." Moonstruck chuckled. She knew somepony had to have them, but didn't figure on Glenda. She really shouldn't be surprised.

They played a few more rounds; Glenda returned, Joseph joined them after a while, then the already chill party wound down and ponies started heading off to sleep. Moonstruck was one of the last few to leave. She'd never gone this long without fiddling with a deck of cards before, she hadn't realized how much she missed it, so had spent a fair bit of time just shuffling them by herself. This deck wasn't hers, they'd just found it in one of the drawers. Her deck was mostly gone. Only the queen of hearts remained, and the Roanamian Historical Society had already swooped in to add it to a future museum display.

"So… you and Captain Windwake are…?" Max asked as he turned off the lamp on his end of the room. He was going around straightening things up, and turning off lights. Most of the ponies had been good about picking up after themselves, so that was about all there was to do.

"Are...? Oh. Heh, nah, we get that a lot. He's one of my best friends." Moonstruck shrugged as she picked up a pillow and tossed it on to one of the sofas. "And he's more into stallions, anyway."

"O-oh. Just curious. You two seem very close." Max switched off another light without looking over.

"We grew up together. His dad was the captain of the guard for a long time. Went to most of the same schools and all that. Really, we're only half of a set. If you wanna see some _real_ friendly chaos, I'd have to get Breezy and Patch out here too." She chuckled, and turned off a light.

"That's… a little disturbing, actually." Max shook his head.

"It usually is, yeah." Moonstruck grinned, turned off the last light on her end of the room, then headed towards the door. "Well, g'night."

"Good night."

* * *

Max watched her walk out of the room, a strange feeling swirling in his chest. Before he could sort out what that feeling _was_ , he realized he wasn't alone. Lowering his gaze, he met the smugly grinning visage of Lindsey, whom had stepped into the doorway after Moonstruck had passed through it. She didn't hear any of that, did she?

"You asked her. _Yourself_." Lindsey somehow grinned harder.

Max pulled his ears back. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah, Felicia left her sketchbook in here somewhere." Lindsey ambled in the room and began lifting up pillows.

"Well, turn off the last lamp when you're done." Max started towards the door.

"You asked her yourseeeeelf..." Lindsey chortled. "I'm so proud!"

He rolled his eyes. "Actually, maybe you should dust in here too."

"Little Maxie is all grown up and askin' 'bout mares..."

"AUGH!" He cantered out of the room. Was this what it was like to have siblings? Because if it was, this would be another reason on a long list of reasons he was glad he was an only child.

* * *

A/N: In case you haven't noticed, Lindsey is shipper trash.


	42. Epilogue 4

**How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back**

Finite Sledgehammer

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it._

* * *

As the days rolled by, Moonstruck found herself with less and less to do. With all of the blue-collar ponies flooding the city to help with the rebuilding, and energy upgrades, the townsponies didn't need her help with the heavy lifting, or magical wiring. They had machines and techs for that now. Many Roanamian ponies were actively helping to manage the weather, and with regular rain, earth ponies were starting to coax life out of the depleted soil, and there was a huge effort to plant as many fast growing crops as they could in every spare patch of dirt they had before winter was moved in. The mysterious dandelions were indeed proving to be a valuable food crop; many ponies had collected up the seeds to grow indoors over the winter.

About the only jobs she had left was signing paperwork, hobnobbing with all of the nobility that was arriving from across the globe for Max's coronation, and scaring the living snot out of the elite unicorns whom had stubbornly remained in the city, but hadn't done anything heinous enough to be chucked in the dungeon. She rather enjoyed the last one, and she was friends with many of the foreign dignitaries, but the rest was… meh. Typical princess stuff, really. The sort of stuff that turned her brain to mush, and made her want to go looking for a building to decorate with toilet paper, or fountains to make run backwards, or park benches to make honk whenever a pony sat on them, or any number interesting things she typically did to amuse herself.

It was becoming abundantly clear that her time in Roanamia was coming to a close. Max had plenty of help, and with the presence of so many outside powers, the barons couldn't make a move without causing an international incident. Even Eira's hooves were tied.

Joseph was getting restless too, she noticed. He and Glenda were very close, but she suspected he'd head off soon. Glenda was in good company, and she was more than capable of taking care of herself. And Sarah. And Max. And Lindsey. And probably the rest of the city, even though she insisted she didn't know how to lead that many ponies.

The morning of the coronation Moonstruck found herself watching Joseph fuss with a bejeweled collar he'd been loaned for the ceremony. Dragons, he declared, did not wear clothes, and he found it quite offensive. Moonstruck was wearing a simple tiara, and a lightweight set of armor they'd found that actually fit her. She and Rainbow Dash had been enlisted to do a double rainboom at the end of the ceremony. Rainbow Dash had wanted to make it a triple rainboom by getting Twilight Sparkle involved, but Twilight had staunchly refused. Moonstruck couldn't blame her – she could execute the spells without a problem, but she simply hadn't been flying long enough to pull a rainboom off without a hitch even _with_ magical cheating.

"So how long are you gonna stick around for?" She asked once Joseph was done hogging her bathroom mirror.

"Eh?"

"After the ceremony."

"Mmm… I dunno. A few days maybe." He didn't look at her. "How about you?"

"Same, probably." Moonstruck shrugged. "Not much left to do here."

"Yeah."

They had the suite to themselves; Glenda and Sarah were over in Max's room getting ready with the royal entourage, and Windwake was off prepping with the other honor guards ponies. Moonstruck couldn't say she'd packed already, it was more that she'd never really unpacked. All of her camping gear was stowed away in her saddlebags; the only things left out where a few toiletries, a master copy of her report, a lot of photo's, a couple of records from some local bands, and a few trinkets for her siblings and friends. Joseph had even less; just the nodestone necklace she'd enchanted for him, although he'd stopped wearing the earring on his ear, and instead had it clipped to the necklace.

Most of the historical society ponies continued to wear their nodestone necklaces even though she'd deactivated the network when they'd switched entirely over to radio headsets a few days ago. They were good mementos, Moonstruck knew. She was still wearing hers, although that was partly because it felt odd to not have her little bag full of tricks. Without a deck of cards to keep in it, it seemed kind of pointless to wear it, and the strap was wearing very thin, anyways. It had nearly broken entirely several weeks ago when she'd been wriggling down into some rubble to dig out a foal that no one had been able to reach. The foal survived, but her velvet pouch had not.

She heard the front door open.

"They're just about ready, better head out!" Windwake called from the door of the suite.

"You hear that Mooney?" Joseph shouted.

"Yep!" Moonstruck trotted out of the bathroom, then out of her room. Windwake stood not quite at attention in full armor near the open door, making her feel a tad under-dressed, as she wasn't wearing the leg armor, although she did manage to tame her curls enough to make the messiness look more deliberate than it usually did.

Deciding not to dwell on it, she headed out after him, Joseph trailing behind. They crammed into the elevator, got off on the first floor, and made their way over to the staging area where everyone was gathering. It was about as chaotic as these things usually were. Even Starshine's coronation was a complete mad-house behind the scenes.

First they'd march down the avenue to the parade grounds that stood directly between the temples of Rosalina and Raysel. There, the high priestess would flip a ceremonial coin to decide which temple to go to first. Then they'd all hike up to whatever temple that might be, wherein Max would go through all of the rites and blessings of the twin in question. From there they'd head back across the way to the second temple to repeat the process with the other twin. Then it was back to the parade grounds for the final ceremony. The priestess would recite the Prayer of Balance, then the Oaths of Office in the common language, then Max would sing the oaths in Old Roanamian. The priestess would plop the crown on his head, he'd give a short speech, then Moonstruck would wake herself up just in time to do some fancy flying with Rainbow Dash before they did the double rainboom. Then fireworks and a party.

She was proud of Max, and happy for him, but _egad_ this was going to take _hours_. Trot's ceremony was only about an hour and a half. Most of the sacred stuff was done the day before and Moonstruck didn't have to be present for any of it, so it was really just the ceremony itself and the after-party.

Max appeared after a few minutes, looking like he was set to drop at any time. Lindsey trotted along after him in fancy robes of office, as she was still his second in command, in addition to being chief engineer. Glenda looked wildly uncomfortable in a simple silver gown, and the old queens crown, and Sarah was similarly awkward in a yellow dress and Nadias princess tiara.

"How did you get out of wearing a fancy dress?" Glenda asked as they joined up with she and the rest of the alicorns.

"Sonic rainbooms and ballgowns don't mix." Moonstruck sniffed. Rainbow Dash only wore lightweight armor as well. They didn't match, since Rainbow Dash wore Equestrian armor, and Moonstruck wore what had once been a plain Roanamian set that had been emblazoned with Trot's heraldry. They were equally shiny, however, and that was probably the most important part.

Glenda grumbled and shifted around uncomfortably.

"Aw, c'mon, it's not a bad dress at all. Rarity did a great job." Moonstruck grinned. She had, actually. She'd whipped up dresses for several dozen ponies over the course of the week, and tailored and updated Max's robes.

Before Glenda could respond, they were called to start forming up. She'd be marching with Max's group, since she'd had a hoof in all this, the rest of the alicorns would fly ahead to take their places with the other foreign dignitaries.

"One more thing, one more thing!" Rarity trotted into view with a basket of red and yellow cut roses. She slid to a stop next to Glenda and immediately started weaving yellow roses into her mane.

"Oh! This I like! N-no offense, dear! The gown is lovely, it's just, I've never really worn clothes before..."

"Yes, yes, tough mountain pegasus, I got the memo. I designed it to be easy to move in for that very reason." Rarity chuckled, waving a hoof flippantly. "Come here Sarah, you're next. Your Majesty, don't run off!"

Once everyone else had roses in their manes (yellow for Glenda and Sarah, red for everyone else), Rarity turned to Moonstruck. "I'm afraid I don't know what Trot's national flower is, but I found these dark red roses that match your eyes, and I've been told you were responsible for all of the dandelions, so, I got creative!"

She lifted a little flower crown of dandelion blossoms and deep maroon roses out of the basket. "You can hoof it off to someone before you and Rainbow Dash take off."

"Oh! That's cute! Thank you!" Moonstruck bowed her head so that Rarity could weave the flower crown in with the tiara. "Trot's flower is the western dogwood, by the way"

"Oh! How lovely! I do enjoy when the dogwoods are blooming." Rarity chirped. "There you are darling!"

Rarity wished them all good luck, congratulated Max, then scurried off to join her friends at the parade grounds. They barely had a moment to breathe before they were being called out of the staging area. A marching band and ponies tossing flower petals preceded them, then more ponies bearing the national standards were following. Roanamias flag, House Rosegard's flag, and House Sunroses flag, since, technically, Roanamia also had a new queen and duchess this day. Both Glenda and Sarah had declined any sort of special ceremony, but Max had insisted they be a part of his coronation, and occupy their royal positions.

Max marched next, with Lindsey on one flank, and Wenchell on the other. Glenda and Sarah were behind him with Joseph walking between them, then finally Moonstruck, with Windwake trotting along side her as the standard bearer for Trot. She was a little surprised Celestia had a Trot flag tucked away somewhere on her battlecloud that they could use.

Much of the rest of the upper echelons of the Roanamian Historical Society were behind Moonstruck, even Geode whom had gotten back in time to pester little Spike, and take up her duties as royal dragonologist. She couldn't hobble far on her bad leg (much less up steep hills), but she'd refused to ride in a cart, so she'd be staying with the royal dignitaries at the parade grounds while Max and the rest of his inner circle made the rounds. Usually Geode wanted to tag along, which made Moonstruck suspect she _really_ refused the cart so that she could study Spike some more, since he was sticking close to Twilight Sparkle.

Moonstruck lifted her head, and pranced lightly out after the others, past the tower staff that were lining the main entrance, then out into the sun. The crowd was already cheering, but they went wild when Max strode into view, and positively bonkers for Glenda. She could tell from back here that Max was trying not to duck his head, and arch his wings over his back, which meant he was probably blushing pretty hard. He kept letting his head drop slightly, then jerking it back up when seemed to realize he was trying to curl into an embarrassed ball. She was a little surprised he had stage fright, considering how much of his life was spent in the limelight.

Glenda was tense as well, but she strode forward with her head up high, eyes likely fixed straight ahead to avoid doing all of the fidgeting Max was doing. And Sarah. Sarah was having a hard time keeping up a stately march too.

Moonstruck was sorely tempted to ham it up to get them to relax, but feared it may backfire spectacularly. So instead she kept pace, and did her best, high stepping parade-march, and occasionally tossed her mane and flared her wings dramatically to be majestic and all that.

They were quickly at the parade grounds, where the foreign dignitaries were gathered in the stands, and Lady Rosa was waiting atop a dais with a few attendants. The attendant read a quick prayer then flipped her coin. It came up Rosalina, so the parade dissolved into a procession and headed up the hill to the temple of Rosalina. There, Moonstruck fought to stay awake as ceremonial candles were lit, incense was burned, and gongs were banged. There was a lot of chanting and spreading of flower petals, and sprinkling of holy water.

When that was finally done, they headed back down the hill, then across to the temple of Raysel for a nearly identical ceremony.

Heading back outside and down to the valley floor to the parade grounds woke her up a little, but then it was another stretch of listening to chanting and prayers in a language she didn't understand, and more incense burning. It wasn't the worst stuff, but she could have done without it. After nearly an hour, Lady Rosa finally recited the oaths of office in the common language as attendants placed a heavy golden collar around Max's neck to rest against his chest, and the garish battle-helm-crown upon his brow. The oaths themselves were not anything out of the ordinary. Promises to protect the realm, and uphold peace, justice and balance and so on and so forth.

Moonstruck perked up a little as Max reluctantly stepped up to the mic that one of the attendants had placed at the edge of the dais. He swallowed hard and threw a glance at her.

"You've got this." She said just under her breath.

He let out a nervous breath, then focused on the mic. After a few tense moments he began to sing. Moonstruck swept her gaze over the massive crowd, delighting in the expressions on ponies faces as they listened to Max. Although hundreds of ponies had attended the party, and a few bootleg recordings of the concert had been made and circulated generously, apparently not everyone present had heard them and were more than a little shocked, and absolutely _enchanted_. She fought back a grin as she spotted a few nobleponies she knew to be fairly loyal to Lucena swoon at the sound of his voice.

The song ended a minute or so later, the last echoes of Max's voice fading into a profound silence. Then the crowd erupted into excited hoof stomping, and cheering. Max ducked his head and blushed, then lifted his head to the mic once more as the crowd settled.

"Th-thank you." He cleared his throat. "I… hmm."

He gazed contemplatively into space for a moment, threw a glance at her, then at Glenda and Lindsey then smiled very softly.

"I have been up the last few nights trying to write a speech for today. I thought I finally had it at about two this morning, but… it isn't right." He shook his head.

"But that's alright, because I think Princess Moonstruck just supplied me with the words. And it's much shorter than what I had written, so I'm sure you'll all appreciate that."

The gathered ponies laughed a little.

He stared out into the crowd as he humbly lowered his head.

"I am not who you think I am. I have long felt that the trust and loyalty so many of you have placed in me has been in vain; for as much as I yearned for the day that no pony had to live in fear of Lucena and Magmanus, I could not do it alone. But I also could not bear to put any ponies in harms way, no matter how much they insisted they knew the risks. And I fear that delay may have caused many more ponies to suffer."

He smiled sadly. "But all through it, ponies… ponies whom had no reason to follow me, much less trust me, kept encouraging me. _You can do this_. They'd say. Or; _you've go this_. Pushing me, and each other to make plans. Build networks and foundations, form friendships. Perhaps my caution, and their ambition struck a balance, which enabled us to operate in secret for so long, and rescue many hundreds whom otherwise would have perished, or been condemned to slavery."

"In the past few weeks you have all shown such amazing compassion, strength, bravery and charity. Reaching out to help one another, teaching and learning; building and growing. You, all of you deserve this far more than I, and I am forever humbled that you have granted me the privilege to lead you into the future."

"I cannot say that the worst is over. I cannot promise that things will only get easier. Dark and difficult days still lie ahead, and I cannot say with any certainty that I will be able to see you all through without harm."

"But… I know, that if we help one another, and continue to come together in friendship and trust, we can weather any storm and defeat any foe. All of us. Together. _We_ can do this."

Max stepped back from the mic and dropped into a low, wide winged bow. The silence was immediately broken by a truly amazing round of cheering and hoof stomping. Moonstruck pulled her ears back from the noise, and wiped a tear away from the corner of one eye. She hadn't figured on getting emotional. Lindsey caught her eye and gestured towards the sky.

Moonstruck sniffed and straightened up, met Rainbow Dashes gaze from across the dais, then magicked her flower crown and tiara to Glenda before crouching low. She sprang mightily into the air the same moment Rainbow Dash did. They sped upwards in a double helix pattern until they were a good thousand feet above the valley floor, then broke off, Moonstruck to the west, and Rainbow Dash to the east. Moonstruck amped up her haste spell, felt the energy build up around her, then really opened it up, breaking the sound barrier. She arched her back as soon as the rainboom was off, arcing over the city upside down to watch Rainbow Dash do a more complicated pattern with her rainbow comtrails as the double rainbooms rippled out across Bridle-Dur and beyond.

Moonstruck spiraled back down, her black, white and red comtrails fading gradually as she projected illusions over the city of raining rose petals and sparks, and butterflies. Once they were out of the danger zone, ponies started launching off fireworks from the tops of the taller buildings. They were extra bright, magical fireworks that flashed and dazzled in full sunlight.

She alighted on the dais then hopped over to give Max a quick, one winged hug – which caused him to blush nearly purple. She grinned cheekily at him, then wandered over to congratulate Glenda and Sarah.

The fireworks marked the beginning of the party, so all ponies were free to mingle. Moonstruck feigned diving off the stage in to the crowd, but most everypony down in what would be a mosh pit at certain concerts cringed in terror. In Trot they would have just calmly stepped aside and continued on with their rave, sure that she'd levitate herself or faceplant gloriously. She hadn't crowd surfed in years, and with her growth spurt, she knew she likely never would again. Such is life. So instead she (mostly figuratively) tore up the dance floor with Windwake, and heckled many of Bridle-Dur's elite, and generally made a complete fool of herself.

Moonstruck made her way back to the tower as night fell, and the party began to wind down. She hadn't intended to wear herself out so soon, but she found herself thinking about a hot shower, and a full nights sleep. It was a little strange to think about a _hot_ shower, considering how stiflingly hot it had been all summer, but with the shield down the days had been mild, and the nights had been getting progressively cooler. The weather ponies were holding off a frost, but the world was very much moving towards winter.

She landed on her balcony and trotted inside, her armor clanking lightly as she did so. She hadn't really intended to spend the day in it, she just kept getting side tracked. Once out of the armor, she placed it back on its stand in her bedroom, then shuffled into the bathroom for a quick shower. Once clean, she cast her drying spell, then ambled out of the apartment to see who all was hanging around.

The 20th floor was quiet, say for somepony playing a record a few doors down. She flicked an ear to the left, then stared off in that direction. If she was not mistaken, the music was coming from Max's new apartment. He'd moved his stuff down to this floor to be in better company. Curious, she turned and trotted off in that direction.

The music was indeed coming from Max's room, and his door was slightly ajar, as if he hadn't quite shut it all the way. Moonstruck knocked lightly and nudged the door open with her snout.

"You in there?"

Max was sprawled on his belly on the sofa. He lifted his head, spotted her, then hastily sat up, blushing slightly.

"Oh he-hello! I'm surprised you're not still out there."

"Eh, didn't pace myself very well." Moonstruck shrugged and sauntered into the room. Max's room was nearly identical to her own, down to the knickknacks. The only real difference was the surprisingly small stack of boxes in the corner filled with a few personal odds and ends he'd brought down from his chambers higher up in the tower. Most of "his" things were actually trinkets his mother had picked out for him, it seemed.

"Ah, I ended up having to hide from a few, er… very… um… some mares that were… uh..." He blushed darker and ducked his head low.

Moonstruck chortled and plopped down on the couch next to him. "Yeah, there was a lot of swooning when you were singing."

He managed to blush even darker, and pulled his ears back. "Is my voice that good?"

"Yep." She yawned. "You're gonna have to get Lindsey or someone to run interference for you after I'm gone."

"Oh y-you're leaving?" He shot his head up in alarm.

"Yeah, I think I've done enough damage around here." Moonstruck shrugged. "Not a whole heckuva lot for me to do anymore."

"W-we can still use you! I mean… I'm sure there's things you could do… if, if you'd like to stay longer." Max fidgeted with the fringe on one of the throw pillows. "You're not in the way at all. You're welcome to stay as long as you like!"

"It's not that it's…. I kinda miss terrorizing my siblings." Moonstruck chuckled. "I mean, Acorns gone completely without noogies all summer, and I haven't TP'd Starshine's office in – oh geeze, over a year! And goodness knows what Breezy and Patch have gotten up to without me 'n Windwake there. And I've got all that paperwork and stuff to deliver, anyway."

Moonstruck had been homesick a few times during this adventure, but admitting it out loud made her realize how badly she missed her family. Her saloons, and coffee houses, and karaoke bars. Her city. Her forests. Her fjords, and islands, mist and rain and the cold North Luna ocean. She swallowed hard.

"Of course." Max relaxed and closed his eyes, smiling softly. "I forget, sometimes, that you have a life outside of here. To be honest, you seem more like a force of nature than a pony, sometimes."

Moonstruck chuckled softly.

"I'm… I'm not sure what I'll do without you around to throw me in to hurricanes."

"I'm pretty sure Glenda is perfectly capable of stirring things up." Moonstruck grinned.

Max chuckled this time. "That she is. And kick some sense into me. And make sure I brush my teeth, and get plenty of sleep."

"Yup."

They sat in silence for a while as the record came to an end. Max lifted the needle away from the disk and flicked the phonograph off with telekenisis. A distant roll of thunder swept across the sky, drawing their attention to the windows as the first few drops of rain hit the glass. The sky beyond was pink from the setting sun filtering through the clouds, and the distant mountains were gray in the gathering twilight.

* * *

A few days later they gathered in the main docking bay to say their goodbyes. Celestias flagship was docked just outside the bay, floating majestically on its gently billowing cloud.

"You take care, dear" Glenda hugged Moonstruck tightly.

"I will. Don't let any of these whippersnappers push you around, eh." Moonstruck hugged her back, though not as tightly because being crushed isn't a particularly friendly gesture.

"Like they could." Glenda chuckled and released her, taking a step back. There were tears in her eyes.

"You look after your grandma, alright. She's tough, but she's still really, really old." Moonstruck said to Sarah, whom nodded solemnly, then stifled a laugh as Glenda casually kicked Moonstruck in the flank.

Moonstruck giggled and took a big step back.

"They think they'll be able to extend the nodestone network out here by spring." Lindsey said, wiping away a tear before she stepped up for a hug. "Mail service is gonna start before winter sets in."

"I'll keep in touch, don't worry." Moonstruck hugged her back. "If Eira gives you guys any trouble, or you've got a super epic party or something going on, just shoot me a telegraph."

"That won't be connected until next fall, at the earliest." Lindsey gave her a flat look.

"Alright, scream into the void or something then, sheesh." Moonstruck shook her head.

"You can hear things in the void?"

"If it's an epic enough party, yeah!"

"She actually can. It's kinda scary." Windwake noted from where he stood off to the side.

"The cider, _it calls to me_."

He rolled his eyes.

Max was done speaking with Celestia and Luna so she stepped over to him and swept him into a tight hug. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I-I will. Don't… don't be _too_ reckless." He tentatively hugged her back.

"I'll try."

She let him go then took a step back.

"You'll… try _not_ to be reckless, or to _be_ reckless?" He furrowed his brow.

She just grinned.

He winced, then cleared his throat before shuffling a little awkwardly.

"I uh… I heard the strap on your pouch broke and I remembered running across a nice collar so..."

He screwed his face up into a scowl and stuck his tongue out, then a few seconds later, an overstuffed manila envelope appeared with a faint pop. He grinned, pleased with his spellacasting.

"Summoning spell, nice!" Moonstruck beamed, and accepted the package, noting that a good chunk of dark red velvet was sticking out of it. She pulled it out and blinked back her surprise. It was a fine velvet collar richly embroidered with roses in the same, deep crimson of the base fabric, so the effect was very subtly elegant. On it was a plain velvet pouch that was a little bit larger than her current one, and when she opened it up, she saw that there were two decks of cards inside. A set of plain playing cards, and the tarot deck Lucena kept in her solar.

"Oh, wow! Thank you! This is really nice!" Moonstruck flipped through the playing cards to check out the art, realizing as she did so that while the deck was absolutely pristine, it was also extremely old. Downright ancient.

"We found that deck in with the books from the university library. They're practically new, and I knew you sacrificed your deck so I thought it best that you have them. And, uh when you told me about the tarot reading, it just… it just seemed appropriate."

"Cool! I actually kind of collect tarot decks. Tarot is usually a bunch of bull hokey, but the art is interesting." Moonstruck chuckled.

"P-Princess Twilight Sparkle helped me enchant them, so the collar, pouch and playing cards should be nigh indestructible."

"Wow, thank you!" She slid the collar over her head, then disentangled it from her messy mane. It fit perfectly, and the pouch was a reassuring weight against her chest. She hugged him again, then took a step back.

He seemed like he wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words. So she said goodbye to the rest of the historical society ponies in attendance, then looked around for Joseph. He was talking to Glenda and Sarah and looked like he was about ready to take off at any moment. At least until Glenda stepped over and scooped him into a hug in one smooth motion.

He made a show of grumbling, but he didn't really hesitate to return the embrace. Once hug time was over, he ruffled Sarahs mane, which caused her to sputter, and Glenda to bark out a laugh.

And then, far too soon, they were walking up the red carpet towards Celestias flagship. Moonstruck looked back, surprised by how heavy her legs were all of the sudden; how hard it was to leave everyone behind. She wouldn't miss Bridle-dur, but she would miss the ponies that lived here dearly.

"It's always nice to see Shining Armor and Cadance when the world isn't ending." Twilight Sparkle commented to her friends.

"Yeah. Are they still coming to visit after they're done doing diplomatic stuff here?" Spike asked.

"Yes. Cadance even sent messengers back to the Crystal Empire to clear her schedule for a few days about a month from now."

"Okay, I've got time to straighten up the library, then." Spike nodded.

"You clean?" Joseph furrowed his brow as they stepped onto the airship. Moonstruck had bugged him into coming with them until they reached the outskirts of Stirrup Springs, since they hadn't really gotten a chance to hang out much in the last few weeks.

"Yeah, it's one of my jobs. I don't mind, I kinda like organizing stuff. Not as much as Twilight though." He threw her a dark look.

"I do recall you picking up after yourself." Moonstruck noted.

"Sure, _myself_. I don't clean up after anyone else." Joseph sniffed.

She chuckled. They reached the top deck as the galleon pulled away, and rotated as it unfurled its sails. She waved to the ponies still on the loading docks, and on rooftops below, and flying by at a respectful distance.

"So… when are you coming back?" Windwake asked as he joined her on deck.

"Well, I figure I owe Breezy and Patch a trip to Canterlot. May as well do a big loop and make a summer of it." Moonstruck shrugged.

Windwake smirked. "That's what I figured. Kinda surprised you're leaving."

"I don't belong here. I'm welcome here, but it isn't home." Moonstruck shook her head, eyes on the swiftly diminishing tower.

Windwake watched her for a time, shifted his gaze to Joseph, who was fairly twitchy, now that they were under way, then sighed and shook his head.

Although it had taken weeks to get in to Roanamia, it only took a few hours to get out. Moonstruck wrangled Joseph for a hug before he set off to explore the new (old) mountain range, and made sure he kept his promise to meet up at some point for a no-holds-barred, full powered fight to _really_ test their abilities. She strongly suspected that she'd have to find him for that, as he probably wouldn't stray too far from Glenda for very long. She couldn't see him living in the city among ponies again, but he'd probably stick to the mountains outside Bridle-Dur, and within easy visiting distance.

It was startling how much it hurt to watch him fly away.

They passed over Stirrup Springs just after dark, then turned west to sail along the mountains, and through the great pass that separated Bugbear Country from the Griffon realms. By morning they were just outside Manehattan, and once past the metropolis, she and Windwake said another round of goodbyes and set off on their own to fly directly back to Trot along the southern edge of the Crystal Mountains.

Much of her sadness dissipated once she was on the wing, Windwake flying beside her, the late-fall landscape rolling by beneath her, and a distinct chill in the air even in daylight. She'd missed all of the harvest festivals by a good couple of weeks, but she was oddly okay with it. Usually she spent months planning her annual harvest fest prank, and she had been the grand marshal of the Great Pumpkin Parade since she was a filly. She'd have to make up for it somehow. Maybe do something weird for the winter solstice.

They took their time, making their way leisurely across the continent like a couple of tourists, stopping frequently to take pictures, and scope-out roadside attractions and restaurants. They camped at night, and told ghost stories.

The evening of the first frost they were a few hours out from Vanhoover, so they decided to go ahead and push on all the way to Trot, arriving over the western edge of the island around midnight.

"He was a married stallion!" Moonstruck huffed. Windwake had been oddly reluctant to tell her what he'd been up to in Stirrup Springs all summer, and now she knew why.

"Yeah, I know that _now_!" He groaned. "Believe me, I was as surprised as his wife when she walked in on us."

Moonstruck massaged her temples with her front hooves. "How could you not know? You said he was a ranch owner, and had a couple of kids?"

"He told me he was divorced and he had custody over the summer! Besides, I was barely at the house. Mostly we -"

"I don't wanna know." Moonstruck shook her head and waved a hoof.

"Then why'd you ask!?"

"Because you were being so vague about it!"

"Ugh, well, now you know. And I'd appreciate it if you don't tell my mom. She's gonna be mad enough that I was gone all summer and didn't write." It was his turn to massage his temples. " _Classified_ means nothing to her, I swear!"

Moonstruck groaned. She spotted the first castle guard circling lazily up ahead in the clear moonlight. Below her, the castle stood at the top of the cliff; an architectural marvel of white marble and plush moss that was nearly impossible to get rid of, but added a soft, fairy-tale like look to the soaring towers. It rose majestically above the hazelnut orchards and farmland that made up a good chunk of the plateau above the cliffs. Most of Trot City was out of sight down the cliffs, but the bay sparkled in the moonlight, and the fjord to her left was already fogged in for the evening.

"Actually, can I crash with you? My mom has my keys, and I want to get some sleep before I get the third degree."

"Yeah, fine." Moonstruck sighed. The guard spotted them and sped over as fast as her wings could carry her.

"Your Highness! Captain!" She saluted smartly. "I – no one told me you'd be returning tonight!"

"It's a surprise!" Moonstruck grinned, then winked. "And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Right. Welcome back, Princess, Captain." The guard slumped slightly, but smiled. She tapped her helmet to activate her communication node. "Code zero. Just a heads up."

"Thanks! G'night!"

Moonstruck dipped into a shallow dive, Windwake trailing after. Code Zero was otherwise known as "Mooney's a-prankin'" and generally entailed keeping mouths shut. It had taken her many years of baked-good bribery to get the entire castle staff to pretend like they didn't know what she was up to. It was probably also easier on them to be in the know when it came to various shenanigans, anyway. Didn't need them flipping out over every weird thing that happened, especially since they weren't really the target of the weird things.

The rest of the pegasus guards merely waved as they made their descent to Moonstrucks private balcony. Landing in a flurry of wings, they spun and took in the sight of the peacefully sleeping city below, and the bay beyond. Then she turned, and opened the latch with magic, as it was on the inside of the french doors, then wandered inside. She paused for a moment in a pool of moonlight and took in the sight of her room. It was exactly as she'd left it.

"I call dibs on the shower." Windwake yawned as he plopped his saddlebags down next to the sofa near the fireplace. He trotted over to her private bathroom, the door to which was half open.

"Alright." Moonstruck grunted absently.

It felt very strange to be in her room after so much time. It was smaller than her chambers in Bridle-Dur, yet felt larger, more airy. The wind kicked up, blowing the cold sea air into he room, and causing her curtains to billow dramatically. The chill shook her out of her trance. She heaved a shaky sigh, then spun and closed the doors, then slid the curtains shut before turning on the lamp on her night table. She pulled the covers back from her bed, then shuffled around to her closet to pull a spare blanket and pillow out for Windwake. She contemplated lighting a fire, but decided against it. Acorn might notice, since his room was right across the garden from hers, and he could see her chimney from his door. They had central air, anyway; the fireplace was mostly aesthetic.

She adjusted the thermostat to bring the temperature up in the room, then set about unpacking her things. By the time she had everything sorted out, Windwake ambled out of the bathroom. She cast her drying spell on him, then took over the bathroom for a while. When she emerged twenty minutes later, he was already fast asleep on the sofa.

* * *

Moonstruck was startled awake the next morning by a fog horn. For a few confused moments she couldn't figure out what the noise was, since Bridle-Dur was two hours flight from the coast, but another few moments thought reminded her that she wasn't in Bridle-Dur anymore, and hadn't been for over a week.

She blinked her eyes open to stare at the closet doors across the room. The sofa was empty, the blanket she'd pulled out for Windwake was folded neatly in the middle of the couch, the pillow resting on top. She could see a piece of paper on top of that, and didn't have to read it to know what it said. He'd probably slipped out shortly after dawn to report in, then head over to his mothers place to get his keys, and explain why he couldn't write while he was away.

Sitting up, she stared at the clock on the wall. It was a little after eight. She was still more or less on travel time, it seemed.

She sat for a short while, then scooted out of bed. Her hooves sank into the plush rug under and around her bed, then clip clopped across the hardwood floor as she trotted to her balcony doors. She opened the curtains to a crisp blue sky. Squinting into the glare, she opened the doors and stepped outside. It was still cold, and the bay and much of the city below were still fogged in, but her balcony, and the highest tiers of the city were clear. Puffin Island was visible at the edge of the bay, it's great basalt cliffs rising ominously above the low lying fog, a bank of clouds rested at its peak.

The fog horn sounded again. It was the Northside horn, she decided, going by the way it echoed. There must be a ship on its way in to port. Probably out of Neighpon, or maybe Mooseberg further up the mainland coast, they often came in from the north.

Looking down, she realized there was a thin sheen of frost on her balcony, and the rooftops below glistened and steamed in the morning sun.

If it hadn't been cold, she would have thought it all a dream. Shaking herself, she spun and headed back inside, closing the door absently behind her, but leaving the curtains open. She made a quick trip to the bathroom, then slipped on her new velvet collar, and left her room. She was more than a little surprised to step out into open air when she left her room. Her mothers garden was open to the sky, but she'd always kept it in a state of perpetual spring, so the temperature was always pleasant regardless of the weather, but now it was as chilly as it was on her balcony, which had no such enchantments.

The reason became immediately clear; the garden wasn't enchanted anymore. In fact, it wasn't the same garden at all. A few of the larger trees were still there, but it looked like they had lost some limbs. They'd been expertly pruned to compensate, which was likely Acorns doing. The rest of it was now a zen garden. Fall colors popped against deep evergreens, a number of standing stones had been added, and there was a rock garden where her mother typically kept a patch of sunflowers. The trees were mostly bare, aside from the moss that insisted on growing on everything here. There were a few fall-blooming plants, but for the most part, it looked like the garden was shifting serenely into winter mode. Still lovely, but wildly different from what Astromida had designed.

"What has Acorn been up to all summer?" She wondered aloud. This couldn't be anyone other than Acorns doing. The palace gardeners all answered directly to him now, and he was the only one mom would ever allow to help her in her garden. Her stomach rumbled, so she decided to explore the new garden later. Instead, she wandered down the hall to the back stairs, then started down them.

The castle staff greeted her warmly, but quietly when she passed them. The kitchen staff was very pleased to see her when she sauntered in. Breakfast today was pumpkin pancakes with scrambled eggs and fruit salad – one of her favorites.

"Prince Acorn is in the family dining room." The head chef told her, grinning broadly. She likely wanted to see his reaction when Moonstruck walked in like she'd been here the whole time.

"Excellent." Moonstruck grinned back and levitated her plate, and glass of orange juice.

She crossed the kitchen and pushed the swinging door open to enter the casual family dining room on the other side. Acorn was seated with his back to the kitchen door, his nose in a newspaper, a fork full of pancakes hovering half forgotten off to the side. She didn't say anything, just circled around to the opposite side of the table and set her food down before plopping on the empty stool. News out of Roanamia graced every inch of the front page, he was likely reading the continuation of an article. Moonstruck had requested that her involvement in everything be carefully omitted until she got back to Trot. She might not have been able to pull a harvest fest prank, but she would still have a last laugh of sorts out of all of this.

"Well, well, look who _finally_ left her office." Acorn snorted without lowering the paper. His voice was a little lower than she remembered, but it had been wavering back and forth for a while.

"Really, you think I've just been in my office all summer?" Moonstruck replied flatly.

Acorn sputtered and dropped the paper, and the hovering fork.

Moonstruck was going to grin her scariest grin, but she found herself taken aback as well. Acorn, it seemed, had also had a pretty major growth spurt this summer. He was almost as buff as she was, and possibly as tall.

"What in blue blazes have you been doing all summer? Plowing every field in Trot!?" She yelped.

"I should be asking you the same question! And almost! Mostly the university fields! Plowing clears my head!" He yelped as well. "When did you get back!?"

"Last night!"

"Why didn't you wake me up!?"

"Because it's funnier this way!"

They stared at each other, then leaped to their hooves and scrambled around to the side of the table to stand flank to flank. Moonstruck was still taller than him by about two inches.

"Aw! No fair!" Acorn groused. "I was sure I'd be taller than you now!"

Moonstruck just cackled, then grinned stupidly as he tried to shove her away, but she was very much an immovable object when she wanted to be.

"CONFOUNDED ALICORNS!" He gave up and went back to his breakfast. Moonstruck giggled and did the same.

"So, what happened with Moms garden?" Moonstruck asked as she poured syrup on her pancakes.

"It was the weirdest thing! A month or so after you left this strange storm rolled through – it actually happened anywhere the weather isn't completely controlled. Anyway, it brought down a lot of trees and stuff. Moms garden was completely destroyed." He shook his head, eyes wide.

Moonstruck straightened up. That could have been her fault. "Didn't she have a bunch of spells protecting it, and maintaining the climate?"

"Yeah! It should have been fine but… I dunno, I guess without her here the spells faded." Acorn frowned deeply. "I tried to put it back the way it was but I couldn't get it to work. It was really driving me up the wall."

He shook his head. "I actually gave up on it for a while and went off to work on projects at the university. That's when I got into plowing, by the way. I was actually out plowing the hundred-acre plot when I realized I just couldn't do what Mom did, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't want to."

He shrugged. "It just didn't feel right to force the plants to stay in spring-mode all year. They adapt and change so beautifully, so… well… I salvaged what I could and redesigned it as a zen garden. It will be beautiful all year, but change with the seasons."

Moonstruck smiled softly. "I think she'd like that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think she kept it in one phase to keep something constant in her life. But if she ever gets a look at what you did, she'd appreciate it's dynamic ephemeralness, or something."

Acorn blinked a few times, taken aback. "Thank you. You must have had an interesting summer."

"What makes you say that?" Moonstruck lifted an eyebrow then took a bite of pancake.

"Well, you're way taller, built like a tank, have huge wings, your mane and tail are white, and you just said something really insightful." He squinted. "And you have a notch out of your left ear and are those scars on your cheeks and shoulder?"

Moonstruck summoned her report down from her room, along with the trade agreements she needed to deliver to Starshine at some point, and a big manila folder full of photo's. Some of those photo's had made it into the papers, although she'd been carefully cropped out of all of them for publication.

Acorn stared down at the stack of paper. "Trade agreements with Roanamia?"

"Mmmhmm." Moonstruck grunted around a mouthfull of scrambled egg.

He hastily emptied the envelope of photo's, eyes growing wide as he scanned the pictures. He picked up the newspaper, folded it clumsily to the front page, then lifted a photo to compare. The picture was of Max's coronation. In the full photo – which she had – she was standing off to the side, but the paper had run a tighter crop of just Max and Celestia bowing to one another.

"Holy crab apples, _you were Celestias_ _agent_!?"

"Mmhmm." She took a sip of orange juice.

"I have a gift for you, well, Trot, really, from Max. A couple of royal Roanamian rose bushes. One's red, the other's yellow. I'm gonna need you to pick out a good dogwood sapling to send back, and maybe some hazelnut stock. I'm pretty sure they'll grow there once they get the weather straightened out."

"Max? Wait, you mean _King Maximus_?" Acorn gaped at her, as she summoned the rose bushes down to rest them against the table. They were already dormant, and pruned back for winter, their roots bound up in burlap sacks. She wasn't sure if it was too late to plant them, but Acorn would know what to do with them.

"Yup."

He gazed down at the new roses, probably already thinking of where to put them.

"This is a lot to take in."

"Yeah, I was there and I'm still kinda weirded out." Moonstruck shrugged.

He quietly sifted through the photo's, absently eating breakfast as he did so. Moonstruck munched, and poured herself tea.

"So how long do you think it'll take for Starshine to notice I'm back?" She said after she finished eating.

Acorn snorted and rolled his eyes as he flipped a page in her report. "Months. She's hardly left her office all summer."

Moonstruck felt a grin creep slowly across her face. "Wanna help me TP her office?"

He looked up and stared at her like a hungry dragon stares at a nice juicy goat.

"Yes. Yes I do."

hr

Queen Starshine twitched an ear as her office door creaked open, and a familiar whirring noise rolled slowly towards her. She hadn't heard that particular wind-up toy in ages. She lowered the scroll she was reading to see the little spring-action train engine roll towards her, and come to a slow stop in the middle of the room.

"Acorn?" She asked, smiling. She certainly had fond memories of that little train. Last she knew it was in Acorns possession, although she was quite certain he'd out grown it a while ago. Indeed, he was looking more and more like their father every day – or so her assistants said. She was having a hard time remembering when she'd last spoken with him directly. Perhaps this was his whimsical way of gently getting her attention. She _could_ use a break, now that she thought about it.

The train finally crept to a halt in the very center of the office, although the whirring noise didn't stop, but changed tone, as if somepony was winding it up again. She tilted her head to the side, fixing her ears forward.

And then it exploded in a large, but surprisingly gentle poof. Starshine sat up straight, momentarily blinded by the accompanying flash of light. As her eyes adjusted she realized all of her paperwork had been replaced by neat stacks of toilet paper rolls. There were toilet paper garlands over her windows, and intricate toilet paper flowers, even a toilet paper chandelier. The longer she stared, the more toilet paper she saw. Her desk was completely encased, as was her stool, and the guest stools against the wall. The book shelves, the pots of her potted plants, were carefully wrapped. The curtains had been completely replaced by woven toilet paper – as had the scroll she'd been reading. The small bust of one of their ancestors she used as a paperweight had a miniaturized roll on its horn.

A muscle around her right eye twitched. There was only one pony in all of the world whom had the audacity and security clearance to do this. She took a deep breath….

hr

"MOONEY!"

Moonstruck finally let out the boisterous laugh she'd been holding in and slid on the smooth marble floor for a few agonizing seconds before she gained traction and bolted down the hall, Acorn cackling crazily beside her. Starshine burst out of her office, slid into the opposite wall, and sent a beam of magic after them, just missing Moonstrucks tail. The blast left scorch-marks on the floor.

They thundered recklessly down the hall, sending any castle staffers unlucky enough to be in the general vicinity of the queens office scrambling out of the way as they passed, Starshine in hot pursuit. They reached the end of the hall; Acorn went left to duck down a servants passage, and Moonstruck opened the big picture window that looked out over the fjord and dove out it, opening her wings as soon as she was clear of the window, and flexing them powerfully to propel herself into the clear sky. In a few heartbeats she was well above the city, and Starshine was an angry little speck hanging out the window.

She looked around, breathing in deeply to take the cold sea air back into her body and soul, watched as the sun burned the fog away from the city, forests, fjord and bay, and savored the sound of her sisters enraged shrieking far below.

It was good to be back.

The End.

* * *

A/N: I haven't seen the movie yet, but I did catch a clip of Twilights speech to her friends towards the end there, and… yeah it's almost the same as Max's coronation speech. I ALMOST changed it, but decided I liked mine better, so I left it. XD

My original notes to myself Re: Max's speech was "TL:DR: We are Groot."

Anyway, It's oveerrrr I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! AH HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA!

Oh boy was this a journey! There's so much stuff I wanted to add/explore, but I couldn't fit it in, or get it to work quite right. Like, I really wanted to do more stuff with Lady Rosa, but it really wasn't until near the end that I figured out what HER deal was, and by then it felt like too much to add, and the story is bloated enough. Basically, Rosa is about five hundred years old, and is the last of the Thornbriars The Thornbriars had already been extensively hunted down by Lucena many years prior; those who remained were cloistered away out near the northwest border, almost to the glaciers. Rosa was raised and trained in secret as a challenger to the queen. The remaining Thornbriars also gathered up some sympathetic branches of house Rosegard to make the challenge more solid.

They moved on Bridle-Dur once they had decided Rosa was powerful enough to take out Lucena, but at that point in time, Lucena still had most of her marbles, and had caught wind of the attack, so she was ready and waiting for them. She did NOT anticipate another alicorn. Unfortunately, the Thornbriars kinda forgot that an alicorns power develops more slowly than most other ponies, and Lucena was in her prime. Rosa was completely outclassed. Lucena toyed with her as they battled over the city, then finally blinded Rosa, and ripped the wings from her body. Rosas horn cracked when she hit the ground, forever limiting her ability to use magic. Lucena felt that leaving her alive, and doomed to wander the city was far crueler than killing her, or imprisoning her. She then sought out, and slaughtered the rest of the Thornbriars, and most other branches of Rosegard.

Rosa learned of her families death through other ponies. Lucena didn't even come to gloat.

So yeah, after that it was a lot of drinking, and wandering around aimlessly, and slowly realizing what went wrong. They were never in any kind of position to make a power play like the days of yore when alicorn houses openly challenged one another. A small army of nobleponies making a power-grab with an immature alicorn princess as their secret weapon couldn't topple Lucena; it would take everyone in the country, all tribes of ponies, rich and poor alike. So she stopped drinking, and started trying to better herself by helping those around her; eventually becoming the shrine keeper at the statue of Rosalina, and a fixture of the city. Curiously no one can remember how long she's been at it, they just know she's OLD and has always been there. Because of her injuries she won't have a full alicorn lifespan, and limited access to her powers, but she's okay with that.

Another character I wanted to get in to more – and had even written out bits for – was Sarah. She had a few fun adventures in Ponyville as she recovered, gained her cutie mark, and learned how to manage the weather, but damn, I just could not figure out where to shoehorn those bits in! I might finish those off at some point and post them as an asides sort of anthology as a companion to this monster. I have a few "deleted scenes" sitting around of that nature, actually….

Anyway, the story was spawned by a digital painting I did a few years ago that sorta prompted a little blurb of a story, that then evolved into this mess. In the making of that mess I got kind of annoyed with people who were annoyed that Twilight Sparkle was made into a princess because "not all little girls want to be princesses." While this IS true, princesses are VERY popular with little girls, and Hasbro is trying to sell toys after all, so from a business angle it makes sense, and from a story angle I felt the show did a pretty decent job of justifying her transformation, and handling the aftermath.

Moonstruck is something of a response to that. There's no rule that says a princess can't be a lying, cheating, swearing, lazy trickster with mild depression and an unhealthy dose of self doubt but STILL be a good guy, and even a good princess! There's also no rule that a princess can't be short and chubby, go on a quest, get totally jacked and end up a great beefy mare either! And that is precisely what Moonstruck is! Lol! I… ah, I never did get around to illustrating this, but I based her character design off of European Belgian Draft/Brabant horses, if you want to get an idea of HOW beefy she is. HEAVY draft. HEAVY. Visually I wanted her to be different from the other alicorns as well; short(er) and more powerfully built than the tall willowy princesses. I don't have to animate this on the cheap, so I can do that - ha!

She's also a bit of a shout-out to all those gifted kids out there who are highly intelligent, but have no freaking clue what to do with themselves because as it turns out, being really smart actually doesn't get you anywhere once you're an adult. 'Cause that is very much where Moonstruck is at at the beginning of the story. By the end, she's got a better idea of what she's capable of, and how she fits into the grand scheme of things.

I usually have a hard time writing compelling villains, so coming up with a good one was a challenge. Ultimately I decided that the worst villains are often the most mundane. In this case an abusive parent. Lucena is – unfortunately – based on my dad, grandmother, and an aunt, then dialed up to 11 to push her into supervillain territory. I tried to keep her behavior believably erratic, complete with early onset dementia. Because, Oh boy! The only thing worse than an abusive parent is an abusive parent who can't take care of themselves anymore and need one of their kids to look after them because no one else will!

Making Lucena an abusive parent type villain meant she needed someone other than all of Roanamia to abuse. Enter Max.

I am sick and tired of villain kids who turn out as twisted and evil as their parents even though they weren't immune to their parents wrath. It is very common for abuse victims to become abusers themselves, but it's never the way it's depicted in fiction. IRL, they never see themselves as abusers, they only see themselves as victims and feel all of their abusive actions are justified by their status _as_ victims – thus continuing the cycle. I mean, this is textbook stuff, IDK why people think they become brooding edgelords who slide into evilness because it's cool or something but secretly want someone to rescue them. It's always coming from a place of deep rooted fear, anger, and anxiety, and fear, anger and anxiety are really good at convincing someone they're doing the right thing even when they're really, _really_ not.

On that note, Lucena was never abused – not outright. It's more that she's always had some emotional issues, and there used to be much more pressure on alicorns to fit in to a narrow set of molds. The show kind of alludes to alicorns being more warlike, in the past what with the alicorn amulet being a pretty nasty little magical artifact, and Lunas Royal Canterlot Voice and stuff. Like, why even have that if not to terrify your subjects? Why create such a horrible artifact if alicorns weren't assholes?

Anyway, Max.

Max is different, he had an equally common textbook response: Plain Old Anxiety. Max's fear is that Lucena will follow through on her worst threats, and his anxiety comes from knowing he won't be able to stop her. Lucena actually shot herself in the hoof when she cast the half-dragon illusion over him because it's what ultimately set him on the path to empathy and compassion. Ponies saw Max as a monster growing up; he was isolated enough just being the prince, but throwing THAT on top of it was icing on the cake. But he quickly realized that he wasn't alone; he saw other ponies treated the same way. Duds, earth ponies without strength, and especially pegasus were all pariahs. When he looked at all of the pariah ponies, he saw himself. And he wanted to help.

Moonstruck is a big subversion of normal princess tropes, and Max is no different in that regard. His greatest strengths are his kindness and compassion. Definitely a lover, and not a fighter, but he will fight if need be.

Fun bit o' trivia: The tall pegasus and unicorn ghoul thingies in the underground city were Nadia, and Max's biological father, respectively. Why Nadia was around if she died before the shield happened? Maybe she was hanging around nearby in the Dreaming or something, and got trapped, IDK.

Uhhhh what else – ah! So it was fun cooking up some parallels for Moonstruck and Lucena. Mainly that Lucena seemed to use a lot of the same tactics that Moonstruck does; illusions, lies, manipulation, nodestones and the ilk. And, as I stated above, neither of them really fit the typical alicorn molds or expectations. Moonstruck is the middle kid, and while she's an alicorn, she's really not cut out to rule. Both her siblings have traditionally shown far more promise than she has, and both are happily living their lives. Moonstruck was lucky enough to be born well after most alicorns abandoned their petty power struggles, and was never put under the same pressure Lucena was, so her response to all this was to fall into a funk, and not go on a horrible quest for power. Her personality just doesn't suit it, anyway, she's way too laid back for that kinda thing. Power trips take EFFORT, man. Too much effort.

Lucena was also a bit _unlucky_ to be born after a time where her ability would be of great use. The dragon wars had wound down by the time she was born, so her ability to communicate with and control dragons was unneeded. Still, there were conflicts, and had she devoted herself to being an ambassador, and not a conqueror, she could have ushered in a truly astounding era of peace and prosperity. But, lol, nope.

I didn't really set out to do it, but the dragons themselves became parallels as well. Lucena had Magmanus, and Moonstruck had Joseph. Lucena kept Magmanus around partially through her ability, and partially through a mutual love of death and destruction. Moonstruck didn't _keep_ Joseph around; he stuck around willingly as a friend. And we all know what friendship is.

Magic. It's magic.

Uh, what else? Glenda is the best. I had the most fun writing her. Badass old ladies are fun always. Joseph was also very fun, and I'm always tickled when I can work one of my theropod dragons into a story. Eira was also really fun to write simply because she's just… THE WORST. As bad as Lucena, but in a more calculating way. But also kinda dumb. I still kinda want to do more stuff with her, since she's still out there, but I also really need to work on some original stuff. It might get written. Someday.

So, yeah! I've probably rambled about this more than enough. Thank you so very much for reading! And feel free to PM me if you have questions or whathaveyou!


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